Carbon
by Jessa4865
Summary: 1 Jack... 2 Carters... COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

_AN: I'm baaaaaack! Anyhow, in celebration of completing a paper that was 6 weeks late (let's not discuss the presentation I haven't done yet), I thought I would reward you all for your patience while I stressed over the paper for all this time. And someone please tell me what possessed me to think school would be better when 10+ years have only made me less able to slop together a paper at 3 in the morning?_

Carbon  
Jezyk  
Spoilers: Anything prior to Heroes  
Disclaimer: I don't own them; I'm just taking them out for some fun. Promise.  
Jack/Sam as always

Chapter One

It wasn't often that Samantha Carter begged for anything. It was, in fact, the first time in all the years he'd known her that she'd begged period. It was odd because not only did begging convey a desperation that was not in keeping with the calm, collected persona of Samantha Carter, but also because begging was altogether unnecessary for her. Carter had a reserved, unassuming way about her that caused her to rarely ask for anything unless she absolutely needed it, which had the pleasant result of her getting nearly everything she ever bothered to request.

But whether or not she actually needed the object was up for debate at that particular moment. And that caused the Colonel's hesitation.

Actually, it really had nothing to do with Carter. It had to do with a very simple concept. It seemed very simple to him at least, but it was obviously well beyond the grasp of both Carter and Daniel, which was kind of frightening in and of itself because Jack was a big enough man to admit that things usually made sense to him after Carter or Daniel had simplified them considerably for him.

There they were, a bazillion light years away from home on a planet which had, according to Daniel, not quite measured up to prehistoric Earth in its heyday. Most of the pathetic excuse for a village had not weathered time well and what had was pretty well unrecognizable. Jack had proclaimed that he was going to side with Mother Nature in all her ascended glory and declare there was nothing of value remaining. He had also told them that since the extinct people were not very evolved and there was nothing intact left, they were immediately going home.

Daniel started whining about looking around, which made no sense to Jack because there was nothing worth looking at as far as the eye could see, and in that barren landscape, the eye could indeed see very far. But Carter pointed out that there wasn't really anything more pressing to do on the base besides paperwork, so they might as well poke around. The colonel decided to be nice and throw them a bone, leading them on a search for something worth saving.

The unrelenting sun had done nothing to lighten his mood. The next settlement they encountered, every bit as wasted and empty as the first, did nothing to help either. It was the third village, a several hour hike away from the gate through the unrelenting sun, that shoved his mood quite firmly into bad.

Because there was something there. Worth all the trouble remained in dispute, but something, nonetheless, which even Jack couldn't deny.

They became aware of the humming before the village came into view. Jack heard it first, but he blamed it on the sun and the squinting and the being hungry and the incessant chatter of Daniel and Carter. He groaned quietly, knowing no one would pay any attention to him since he'd been muttering under his breath all day. But after a moment, he noticed Carter and Teal'c looking around. Daniel was still talking, so he didn't notice it. Carter shushed him, bringing a huge smile to Jack's face. Daniel would have ignored him if he said to shut up, but he listened to Carter because everyone listened to Carter.

"Do you guys hear that?" Her inquiry was directed at anyone who would answer. Daniel looked at her like she was crazy, but Teal'c nodded.

Jack grimaced. "Look sharp." In his experience, there was nothing good about to come from an indeterminate, barely detectable humming that seemed to be subtly growing louder. He firmly expected, at the very least, the entire army of a system lord as they slowly crept over the hill in front of them.

The fact that the humming was coming from another dilapidated village did not soothe his nerves either, although he would have expected some relief from the fact that no one on his team was about to be shot at. The humming still didn't sit well with him.

Unfortunately, Carter was instantly enthralled. Something was humming, she said. Humming meant power, she said. Power on a long-abandoned planet meant something, but that was about when Jack adjusted his sunglasses, sat down on the closest rock, and completely tuned out the babble. He wasn't in the mood for babble, not even from Carter since she was as filthy and rank as the rest of them from marching in the heat all day. He waited for a pause in her speech which was carefully crafted to get him to give in, but it was unnecessary. He trusted her instincts. He waved his hand dismissively. "Go play, kids. You've got an hour." He pointed at Daniel before the younger man could interrupt. "Not a minute more."

Daniel and Carter scrambled off to figure out what was humming and how it was humming and why it was humming and just what the humming meant in the grander scheme of things. Jack and Teal'c remained at the edge of the town where they could observe.

Teal'c broke the silence after a few minutes. "Do you believe there is something of value here, O'Neill?"

Jack shrugged, checking over his shoulder and along the horizon in his typically paranoid fashion. "Carter said something has power."

Teal'c nodded. "Perhaps it is a weapon."

"Perhaps." He shrugged again. "Perhaps not. How could these people build a weapon and still not get past mud houses?"

Teal'c nodded thoughtfully. "The former inhabitants of this planet may have been aided by ascended beings in a time of crisis."

Jack glared at his friend, displeased that Teal'c had reached the same conclusion about the planet despite the complete lack of any similarity. Jack didn't like any planet that reminded him of 636 or of Orlin. He didn't like any people who reminded him of 636 or Orlin. But he couldn't hold Teal'c accountable for voicing the same thought he'd been having.

And he was really particularly annoyed that Daniel had become every bit as fascinated as Carter by the same thing that was fascinating Carter which meant that one hour was going to end with whining.

"I'm going to take a walk." He stood up, thoroughly irritated, and stomped off in a huff. He tried to rationalize his anger, but he couldn't. He wasn't mad at Carter or Daniel. They were just being Carter and Daniel and, in all honesty, he wouldn't change a thing about either of them even if he could. He wasn't mad at Teal'c either. He was just annoyed that there might be another Orlin and that this one might decide to stay, and really, that was the fear that plagued him relentlessly.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: In celebration of that damn ppt finally being done as well, here's a litte bit more. :) Please R&R!_

Chapter Two

By the time he rejoined Teal'c, the hour was up. The miserably hot sun was sinking along the horizon and he knew they should start back. Unfortunately, Carter and Daniel were either pretending not to notice the time or they were really that amazed by the humming slab of rock. Jack and Teal'c slowly approached, catching snippets of a conversation that really should have been quite funny. Carter had found some sort of panel that opened to reveal crystals, crystals which appeared to have something to do with the humming, and she practically had her head shoved in the alcove behind the panel. Her voice was lilting and musical, as it always got when she found some form of technology she hadn't mastered by the age of five. Daniel was crouching beside her, so close that had it been anyone else Jack would have been seriously annoyed, with his head shoved under the panel Carter had opened. He too was raving about something or other. At first glance they appeared to be talking to one another, each making a statement or posing a question before pausing for a response. But each of them was having their own conversation, answering their own questions, and it just so happened that their timing was so bang-on that it seemed they were talking to one another.

Teal'c looked intrigued, immediately trying to make sense of the indecipherable conversation. Jack knew better, instead amusing himself by creeping up behind his friends, squatting down, and announcing that their hour was up.

Daniel turned toward the sound, jerked when he saw how close Jack was, and promptly fell on his ass trying to put some space between them.

Carter jumped at the sound of the colonel's voice, smacking her head into the machine, and clutching her forehead with both hands. Her sudden movement caused her to lose her balance. Jack, who'd positioned himself way too close on purpose, found her resulting collapse into his lap to be well worth the glare he received when he pried her hands away and insisted on examining her forehead.

Teal'c hid his smile while Daniel prattled on about what a truly remarkable discovery they'd made. Jack reluctantly allowed Carter to scramble to her feet while he tried to hide his grin. His bad mood had been erased that quickly. Amazing what having Carter in his arms for ten seconds could do for his psyche.

"Jack, we have to stay here and study this."

With a sigh, Jack pulled his eyes away from Carter, who was either sporting a sunburn or was still blushing. Jack was quite proud of himself for having caused such a reaction in his unflappable second in command and there Daniel was, trying to ruin it. "Why?"

"Because it's unbelievable. It could be the biggest discovery yet!"

"What is it?" Jack was still unable to ascertain what purpose the rock seemed to have besides amusing Carter and Daniel for hours, which he realized might well have made it worth keeping on that prospect alone.

Daniel floundered for words for a moment. "I don't know, but these symbols must mean something and obviously, it's still working."

Jack shook his head. "Maybe it's a bomb, Daniel."

Daniel looked concerned, as though he had no legitimate argument to offer that it wasn't a bomb. "Wouldn't General Hammond love to hear that we found a marvelous new bomb?"

Jack turned back to Carter. Her sunburn had faded which only caused him to smile. But her attention was glued to the rock. "Carter?"

"Hmm?" She squatted back down to examine the crystals.

"Carter?"

Snapping out of it, she realized it wasn't Daniel talking to her. "Oh, sorry, sir."

He smiled, trying to force himself not to be angry over having been forgotten so quickly. "Any ideas what this is, Carter?"

"Sir, the power source should be studied. This machine is obviously very old and it's still working." She frowned for a moment. "Presuming, of course, the humming is within its normal functional parameters."

"Oh, yes, it's very old."

"Yes, sir." Carter was trying to read him and his exceedingly flat tone.

He took pride in the fact that none of them ever quite could. "And I'm getting very old standing here trying to figure out what the hell this very old rock is!" He thought about his words and once again felt like an idiot in front of his friends. "Well, besides, that it's a very old rock."

As usual, Carter took the safe, vague route. "Sir, this device needs to be studied. Daniel and I could stay here while you and Teal'c head back for the gate. A scientific research team could join us in the morning to begin-"

"No."

Carter actually looked confused. "No, sir?" She wasn't used to not getting her way.

"No. There's no chance in hell that I'm leaving the two of you here with something that is so damn fascinating that you don't notice someone coming up behind you." Carter opened her mouth to dispute his words, but he reached out and poked the red spot on her forehead. "No."

Undeterred, Carter smiled. "Then we need to bring it with us, sir."

Jack took a moment to assess the device which still looked very much like a rock to him. It was about two feet long and a foot wide and three feet high. If it was rock, there was no way they'd be able to carry it that far, especially not over rough terrain in the dark. "We'll send someone back for it." He watched as Carter and Daniel met each other's eyes for a moment and he knew he was about to get tag-teamed.

Daniel stepped up to one side of him. "Jack, there's no telling that it will still be here or that we would even get clearance to come back here. Some Goa'uld could be on his way to grab this right now."

"Which would mean we probably shouldn't be here when he comes calling."

Carter closed in on the other side. "Sir, this power source could have infinite military applications."

Jack ignored Daniel's argument because he was fairly certain no one besides Carter and Daniel and their over-educated friends were all that interested. Carter's words, however, were teasing him. Because while he was fairly certain there were no military applications for it, he couldn't be sure she was wrong. "Carter, it's a humming rock. Are we going to use it to annoy the Goa'uld to death?"

"Maybe, sir." She cracked a smile and then pulled out all the stops. "Please, sir? We may not know what it is yet, but we can stay here and study it until we know for sure that it's safe. Please?"

Jack didn't have a clue what to do with begging. He'd never had to face a begging Carter, and he decided that was a very good thing because he realized he had no chance. "Fine. We'll stay here tonight and you've got until noon tomorrow to come up with a definitive purpose. I mean it, Carter." Carter's face broke into a huge smile as she turned back to her toy.

"Teal'c, you and Daniel head back for the gate. Let General Hammond know we're staying and that we'll check in first thing."

Teal'c barely had time to nod his assent before Daniel's whining made him grimace. "Jack! That's not fair! I should have just as much time to study it as Sam! There's just as much chance of me figuring out what it's for!"

"Daniel, two people have to head for the gate and I already pointed out that you and Sam are far too engrossed to defend yourselves while you're playing. Go." He started looking around for another rock to sit on.

"That's not fair. Why can't Sam go with Teal'c?"

"Quit whining, Daniel." Jack's search for a good rock wasn't working, so he sat down right where he was. "Carter has a head injury." Not that the bump on her forehead would really merit any attention, but it seemed a viable excuse.

"You're just being nice to her because you like her more." Daniel slung his pack over his shoulder roughly.

Jack grinned. "No, Daniel, it's because she's prettier than you are." Carter started snickering as she leaned in to examine the crystals once again.

Jack listened to the sound of Daniel stomping off as long as he could hear him. No matter how petulant Daniel was acting, Jack always preferred to have his team together. As soon as the sun was down, he ordered Carter to stop playing with the machine and eat dinner. She barely got two bites in while she yammered on about the endless possibilities of the device. Jack frowned dejectedly because apparently, her audience didn't matter. She would have behaved the exact same way had it been Daniel sitting there with her. She'd happily talk at whoever was there.

Bored senseless, Jack was at the point of seriously wishing he'd gone with Teal'c and left the two scientists to play. Teal'c wouldn't have said a single unnecessary word. "Ok, Carter, I'd volunteer to take first watch, but I know that's just silly."

Carter grinned at him from the far side of the ridiculous rock. "That's ok, sir. I'll take it."

"That's what I thought." He rolled his eyes at her. "Don't forget to look around occasionally for intruders, ok?"

"Yes, sir."

"Don't make me regret this." He couldn't resist the threat, since he knew Carter would sooner die than let him down.

She grinned widely. "No, sir."

With that, Jack laid back, closed his eyes, and tightened his hold on his gun. He refused to be lured into a false sense of security about the place or its humming whatsermajiggy, but all the same, he fell asleep listening to Carter's quiet discussion with herself. All things considered, there wasn't really anywhere else he'd rather be.


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: Longer part here, in which you will finally discover what's going on. Well... sort of. :) Please R & R!_

Chapter Three

He was wide awake, but he didn't know why. It never took more than a second for Jack to get his bearings. He instantly remembered the device, Carter's inability to leave it alone, and the distance between them and the rest of their team. His eyes cracked open, knowing that if Carter was right there, that it was only his turn for watch and not something bad waking him.

And she was. She was leaning over him, one eyebrow cocked, and an almost obscenely seductive smile on her face. He shook his head. There was something so very wrong with the predatory look in her eyes.

He sat up, carefully keeping as much distance between them as possible. She seemed determined to make it difficult for him and leaned over, resting her hands on his thighs. "Carter?"

Her startled squeak caught his attention. Not just because it was Carter and she was squeaking, but because it hadn't come from her. Carter continued to watch him in a way that made him quite glad he'd sent Teal'c and Daniel away. Daring to look away from her, Jack sought out the location of the squeak. He tried to focus on figuring out what was going on with Carter's voice rather than what was going on with Carter's body which was quite definitely leaning closer.

As soon as his eyes fell on the source of the squeak, Jack jumped to his feet, putting a good ten feet between him and Carter and, well, Carter.

"Carter?"

Both women looked at him.

"Um, wha-"

The squeaking Carter was crouching on the far side of the device. "Sir?"

The Carter who had been trying to crawl into his lap sat back on her heals and looked down. "I don't know, sir."

Neither woman was approaching him, but he felt compelled to back up a few more steps anyhow. One of the women was Carter, he was sure, but he wasn't sure what the other one was, nor which one was the other one. His first semi-conscious impression of Carter trying to crawl into his lap could easily have been confused with a very frightened Carter trying to wake him up without alerting the other creature.

He reached for his radio and prayed Daniel and Teal'c weren't out of range. "Daniel? Teal'c?"

Teal'c's voice sounded through, although the crackling revealed his distance. "We are endeavoring to return. Daniel Jackson was quite insistent that we return as soon as our mission was completed."

"Well, there's good news and there's bad news." He paused a moment, allowing his need for drama to be fulfilled. "The good news is that we figured out what the device is."

"Seriously? What? What is it?" Despite what had to be utter exhaustion, Daniel still sounded excited as a kid on Christmas.

Jack looked at the Carters and grimaced. "Actually, there's the good news of knowing what the damn thing does and then there's the bad news and then there's some really good news." Both Carters glowered at him for his statement.

"O'Neill, what is the purpose of the device."

"It's an ancient Xerox machine." The Carter who'd tried to climb in his lap giggled at his words and the other one glared at her. It was kind of creepy.

"Xerox? Like in copies?"

"That's what brings us to the bad news. It makes really good copies."

Still not getting the idea, Daniel sounded annoyed when he responded. "How is that bad?"

"That makes it very difficult to tell which is the original." Jack studied the women's faces, hoping there'd be something that would give him a clue as to which was the right one. But there was nothing - they were identical.

"Jack?" Daniel really wasn't catching on to Jack's nonexistent clues.

"The really good news is that there are two Carters now."

Jack stared at the radio, angry at the dead silence that answered him. "Uh, Teal'c? Daniel? Still there?"

Teal'c answered after another long pause. "We are here, O'Neill."

"Got anything to say?"

Teal'c annoyance was reflected in his voice. "You are mistaken. There is only one Major Carter; I give you my personal assurance."

Jack watched as both of the Carters cracked an amused smile. "And I assure you that there is a Carter and a copy of Carter and I can't tell you which is which. Hurry back."

He released his radio and dug a marker out of his pack. Then he looked at the Carters. "Ok, you first." He pointed at the one who was on the far side of the device. "Come here." As soon as she was within reach, he grabbed her right hand and painted a giant 1 on the back of it. When he was done, he sent her back and called the other one, the one who'd tried to jump him. It was harder for some reason to get the marker to work on her skin. He pressed harder, feeling the way she winced since her hand was clasped in his. He couldn't help but notice the way her hand felt while he tried again with a lighter touch. As always, he was floored by the light contact, even while he painted a ridiculous looking 2 on her. He looked up, meeting the eyes that seemed bright even in the darkness. The corners of her mouth quirked up the tiniest bit.

"Back over there." He knew it was a bad idea to pull for one of them - the consequences to his mental health would be dire if he was wrong and he didn't imagine the real Carter, if she wasn't the one he was leaning toward, would appreciate it very much. And it could potentially be dire for Carter as well if they eliminated the wrong one.

Jack shook his head, willing his thought process to find a new topic, preferably one that did not involve multiples of his team members. He did not want to even think about what they would have to do before they could go back to having one Carter. He doubted either one of the Carters particularly relished the idea either.

He stared at the two women alternately. It was very strange. He guessed it was something like being drunk and staring at twins. Something about it made his head hurt. They were identical, yet they weren't acting the same. The one he'd labeled 1 was staring at the ground, kicking her boot at something he was pretty sure wasn't actually there. The other one - the first one he'd seen when he woke up, the one his heart had deviously and insidiously decided was the real one - was sitting down, resting her chin on her knees and stealing glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

He could easily believe Carter choosing either option, possibly because he was looking at Carter having chosen both options. Carter 1 was the one who'd been crouched behind the machine when he'd woken. Carter - back when there'd only been one which already seemed like a wonderful, if distant, memory - had been in the same place when he went to sleep. The one that had woken him in the first place, however, had woken him in an attempt to seek his help. The original Carter certainly wouldn't have continued working on the device nonchalantly while it copied her. Of that much, he was sure. He tried to convince himself that was the only reason he believed it to be her, but his heart was swearing up and down that he somehow just knew.

Rather than reveal his preference, he just stared at them. And in a completely uncharacteristic move for Carter, both of her stared right back at him. They both looked annoyed, which Jack could easily understand. Carter would absolutely be royally pissed off that he didn't know which was the real one. Unfortunately, the copy had arrived at the same conclusion.

"Holy crap." Daniel's voice startled Jack, not only because Jack hadn't realized he'd been staring at the twins for quite so long, but mainly because it was simply not something Daniel often said.

Jack turned to his friends, trying to feign such coolness that everyone would promptly forget that he'd just jumped a foot in surprise at Daniel's voice. "Yup." He glanced at Teal'c, who was mesmerized by the Carters. "Told you so."

"I offer my apology, O'Neill." Teal'c reluctantly nodded at Jack. "There are indeed two Major Carters."

Daniel dared to approach them, leaning in to examine their faces one at a time. "No, Teal'c, there's only one Sam and there's one copy. The difficulty will be in determining which is which." He swallowed hard. "Like Jack said."

Had the situation not been quite so frightening, Jack would have gloated for months over Daniel's comment.

Daniel reached out, poking the first Carter in the shoulder. She glared at him and he immediately retreated to Jack's side. She seemed to have developed a penchant for glaring rather than talking. "Do they both speak?"

Both Carters glared at Daniel, who shrank back until he was closer to Teal'c.

"They both speak, Danny. I think, however, they are both so angry with me at this moment that words are failing them." He dared to watch the face of the second Carter. "At least, the real Carter is very angry at me. I don't much care what the other one is feeling." He had rarely seen such fury on Carter's face and, when facing twice that fury, Jack was starting to think Daniel had the right idea in backing away.

"What reason do they have to be angry, O'Neill?"

Carter 2, Jack's pick for the real one, stood up and folded her arms across her chest. "Could it be the way you're all staring at me? Or how about the fact that none of you can tell that I'm the real one?"

The first Carter shot the other one an evil look. "Or maybe I'm just a little annoyed that you're even contemplating the preposterous idea that she is the real one."

Daniel looked confounded. "Maybe the copy doesn't know she's a copy." He seemed disappointed.

Jack glared at Daniel because it was easier than looking at Carter angry times two. "I'm so sure the copy would just fess right up, Daniel. Did it occur to you that maybe she does know and she's lying? It's kind of frightening to imagine what a deceitful, non-human version of Carter might be able to do." He hadn't realized the truth of his snide remarks until he voiced them. Feeling particularly helpless, he looked at the Carters. He hoped to find one of them looking guilty or scared or worried.

Instead, they both looked rather smug, as though she'd been waiting a long time for someone to notice how very smart she actually was and how lucky they were that she wasn't the type to go off on a power trip and wield her superior intelligence over all of them. At least she was on their side for the time being. Jack sighed and thanked his lucky stars for small favors.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Creeped out by the grins on the Carters' faces, Jack peeked at Daniel and Teal'c. Both of them were fascinated by the Carters. Jack almost pointed out how quickly Daniel had forgotten about the machine, but he didn't want to draw the other man's attention back to it. Instead he took a deep breath.

"Ok, we're staying here until first light. Then the five of us are going home, fixing this mess, and no one will ever again challenge me when I say we're not playing with the local toys, all right?"

Teal'c offered no argument; he simply nodded his acceptance. The Carters both ducked their heads in shame at having caused their own mess. Daniel was annoyed, but couldn't really dispute the announcement since he might easily hade made the same mistake as Sam if he'd been given a chance to fiddle with the device. Jack didn't want to fathom having two Daniels because he knew that situation might well drive him completely out of his mind.

Satisfied that no one was going to argue with his decree, Jack continued. "I've had some sleep, so I'll take watch now. Teal'c will follow me and then hopefully it will be light enough to head home." He knew Daniel wanted to say something about not having a watch because he undoubtedly still yearned for a chance to play scientist, but Daniel smartly said nothing. Jack watched as Carter 1 opened her mouth to object, but she never actually voiced a complaint. He was leery of spending any time with the Carters until he knew for certain which one was real. There was just too much trouble he could get himself into.

Even as he situated himself to sleep, Daniel looked longingly at the device. Jack wanted to smack him. "No, Danny, you can't touch it." He couldn't believe Daniel hadn't learned a damn thing from the experience. Of course, he wouldn't have believed it if Daniel had simply accepted his order either.

"Fine." Grumbling, Daniel lay down to sleep.

Teal'c was already meditating, leaving Jack essentially alone with the Carters again. Carter 1 was eyeing the copier just as Daniel had. Carter 2 was staring at their pack. Since Carter hadn't been wearing it while she was working, there was only one pack. Jack watched as Carter 2 slowly moved toward it, keeping a distrustful eye on the other version of herself.

Her instincts being as sharp as they were, Carter 1 noticed the slight movement and her head snapped to face the other. "What are you doing?"

Carter 2 glared. "None of your damn business."

Carter 1 approached her and folded her arms across her chest, trying to look menacing to her double. "It's my pack and therefore my business."

Jack was horrified. He was afraid of siding with either, but he didn't think it was a good idea to let them fight it out. "Carters." Although had there been mud and bikinis involved, he might not have been so quick to intervene.

Carter 1 turned to face him; her glare back in place. Carter 2 had the most pathetic look in her eyes. Neither bothered to argue.

He muttered a string of curses under his breath, he'd really been hoping that with a warning they'd be able to work it out themselves. He was going to have to take sides. He could just tell. He nodded at Carter 2. "What do you need out of there?"

Carter 2's face blushed so deeply that Jack could see it in the dim light of the fire. "A blanket, sir. I'm cold."

He nodded at Carter 1. "Are you cold?"

She looked downright offended. "Of course not, sir."

And once again he was faced with a dilemma. Carter was never one to admit weakness, even in such a way as to reveal that she was cold, which would explain why she blushed at having to tell him. Then again, Carter would generally rather freeze to death than tell him such a thing, which would explain why she'd denied it. He sighed, remembering exactly why he preferred to leave the thinking to those who were better at it. He shrugged at both of them before he addressed Carter 1. "If you're not cold, then is it really going to bother you if she uses the blanket?"

"No, sir, not at all." She forced a smile at Carter 2. "Be my guest." Then she looked back at Jack, for once not glaring. She looked sheepish. "Sorry, sir."

"Just try not to let it happen again."

She nodded vehemently. "Absolutely not, sir."

Jack settled down, resting his back against his pack. He really hoped the Carters would go to sleep, thus sparing him the trouble of having to deal with them. It really wasn't at all what he'd ever imagined when he imagined two Carters, which he promised himself was something he would never admit imagining to either Carter. He watched as Carter 2 carefully unzipped the pack and removed the blanket. She knew exactly where it would be and was every bit as anal retentive about how she replaced the other items as he ever remembered her being. But then, Carter 1 was watching her every move like a hawk, exactly the same way Jack had witnessed Carter watching whenever anyone else touched her stuff.

He turned away and wondered why it was that Carter never got along with herself. When that alternate reality Carter had shown up years earlier, they'd hated each other and hadn't been all that good at pretending not to hate each other when Jack suggested they get along. Sure they were able to work together for a common purpose, but Carter had always been able to work with everyone, even people she was only working with in order to get something finished so they would go away. It was alarming at how very badly Carter reacted to herself. He wondered if it was a self-esteem issue. Maybe deep down, despite the confidence she projected, she wasn't sure of herself at all. Although, Jack would have thought that would make her more understanding and not less.

Carter 2 crossed in front of him, distracting him from his thoughts. His heart sped up and slightest bit when she settled down next to him, which was his standard reaction to being close to Carter. It was the Carter he'd misguidedly decided was the real one, but her behavior threw him. She was sitting way too close and, most surprisingly, had rested her head on his shoulder. Normally, Jack would have been unbelievably happy with such an open display of affection. As it were, he was terrified. He froze for several minutes, afraid to do anything. Eventually, his eyes darted over to glance at her, assuring himself that Carter, in any way, shape, or form, had put her head on his shoulder. Then his eyes moved the other way, meeting the startled eyes of the other Carter. She'd assumed a position much like his, leaning against her pack with her arms resting on her knees. Her mouth was hanging open in shock. Her mouth worked to form words, probably to promise him that she would never do such a thing, but in the end, the shock faded and the angry glare returned.

Jack started to wonder if maybe that was the real reason she didn't trust other versions of herself. Perhaps she was afraid that another woman, even if or especially if that other woman was her, would destroy that thread between them. His heart nearly broke at the thought that he'd been mentally siding with the fake one, while the real Carter was crushed and hiding it behind military protocol.

Of course, when he went to move Carter 2 away from him, he couldn't do it. He was blinded by the thought that he could have been right in the first place and then he'd be hurting the real one by rebuffing her attempt to reach out to him. So he sat still, painfully uncertain as to the right course of action and intensely aware of how very angry Carter was going to be with him in the end over everything even though she'd never admit it. He promised himself he would never again imagine two Carters because it wasn't nearly as much fun as he thought it would be.

Hell, it wasn't any fun at all.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Not too much later, Jack dared to look back at Carter 1. She was staring at the machine again, giving Jack the impression that she was trying to make it work through telekinesis. Keeping his voice low so as not to disturb Carter 2, who was still adorably snuggled against him, he broke the uneasy silence. "What are you doing, Carter?"

She turned away from the device slowly, telling Jack that he was interrupting her without having to say a word. "I'm thinking, sir."

He knew he probably shouldn't ask, but he couldn't resist. "About what?"

"That we really need to wake Daniel and get him to start translating this writing." She moved while she spoke until she was leaning down next to the machine. She reached her hand out toward the writing.

"Don't even think about touching that damn thing, Carter." His voice was harsher than usual because he was still unsure of her. If she was the copy, she could be sabotaging the machine so it wouldn't get rid of her.

She jerked her hand back, looking slightly insulted. "I was just looking at it, sir. I learned my lesson the first time. That's why I want Daniel's help."

"Or maybe you just want to make a copy of Daniel so you can have a buddy to help you with your evil plot." He waited for her to crack a smile, which she normally did when they were alone. She didn't. He pointed back at where she'd been sitting. "So how about you just look at it from a few feet away?"

She blushed and her head hung. Carter never liked being corrected. "Yes, sir."

"What is the translation going to help anyway? We already know what it does." His voice was raised slightly since she was further away. Carter 2 shifted at the sound, winding both of her arms around his and shushing him without quite waking up. He smiled at her, amazed that Carter was cuddling up to him. He'd never thought she was the sort, but he liked it. Carter 1 cleared her throat, reminding Jack that there still remained a question about whether or not Carter - the real one - actually did like to cuddle.

She didn't look happy, but she didn't mention it. "I'm hoping the translation will provide an idea of how to get rid of her." She spat the words with such venom that Jack was quite frightened of what might happen if he left the two Carters alone together. But then her voice returned to normal. "Besides, there has to be an explanation of its purpose. There would be no point in copying - poorly at that - a human just for the sake of copying them. Maybe it was intended to duplicate objects rather than people - food for instance. A couple of these could make famine and hunger a thing of the past."

Jack grinned. "We could make ourselves rich, too." Again, her eyes didn't even show a flash of mirth at his joke. But she really did sound like Carter, even if she was a little meaner than normal. He nodded at the Carter sleeping on his shoulder. "You know, I kind of like her." He was trying to drop a hint, to remind her that his feelings for her hadn't changed regardless of the time that had passed since either of them had alluded to them, and to get her to lighten up, just a little. Carter was always too tense, but she almost always gave in to his attempts to make her smile.

But Carter 1 only rolled her unamused eyes. "You would, sir."

He didn't know how to react. If she was the real Carter, then he knew he should be worried about offending her. If she was the copy, her opinion of him meant nothing. Everything depended on which one of them was real and that was quite possibly the only thing he couldn't count on Carter to answer honestly. He's always been able to rely on her understanding, even when she was angry or disagreed with him. So he reached out for that understanding.

"If you're the real Carter, you'll know why I can't turn her away."

"I am the real Carter and you know I would never do something like that."

"Just because you haven't doesn't mean you won't." At least, that was how Jack reassured himself that their situation wasn't entirely hopeless.

"You're my CO. I would never act so inappropriately and you really should know that by now, sir. If you don't, then you've grossly underestimated me." She sounded hurt. Very hurt. And she was right. If it hadn't been for a damn lie detector and that without her honesty he would have been forced to undergo a procedure which well might have killed him, he never would have found out about her feelings in the first place. If he knew nothing else about her, he knew Carter was a consummate professional, even when it hurt.

His voice was soft as he replied. "But you know, if you ever did, I'd never say no."

Her eyes burned into his for a long, silent moment, giving him a glimpse of the feelings she denied. "Which is exactly why you know I never will."

They'd come to a stalemate. Precisely the same stalemate he always reached when he thought about their relationship. The silence only lasted for a second before a heartbroken sob came from his side. Jack turned to Carter 2, seeing in her horrified face that she'd caught every word of the exchange.

She untangled herself from him and jumped to her feet with grace only Carter could possess at such a moment. The next thing he knew, Carter 2 was tearing off at a full run into the darkness. Having never seen such an emotional display from Carter, he was too stunned to react immediately. He wasn't, however, too stunned to notice the way Carter 1 was gloating.

"Teal'c!" Jack didn't have wait for his friend's eyes to open. "Don't let her near that thing!" Confident that Teal'c would keep Carter 1 from copying herself a dozen times over, Jack was free to chase Carter 2.

As he ran, he mulled over the options. Surely Carter had never run away from him in tears before - although he had suspected there were a few times she'd wanted to - but then Carter had never been so openly callous either. At that moment, he'd swear neither of them was the real one.

Luckily, Carter wasn't much of a runner and, further hindered by her tears, she tripped. Not that Jack ever wanted her injured, but it made it easier to catch up with her since she didn't bother to get up. She just sat on the ground, cradling one hand in her lap. Jack squatted down next to her, expecting Carter's ubiquitous, automatic assurance that she was fine. All he got were sniffles.

"Carter?"

She rubbed her hand across her face, but didn't look up. "Yes, sir?"

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

At that, she did look up, revealing tear-filled eyes. "Are you kidding? You like the copy of me better. How did you expect me to react?"

"Not like this." He sat down next to her and reached for her hand. "And I didn't say that I like her better."

"I heard you." She pulled her hand away and wiped at her tears again.

"You heard me talking about something that I probably should have been talking about in the first place that had to do with the real Carter, whichever one of you that may be." Jack wanted desperately to hold her, to comfort her, but he was too afraid of the consequences. "I just wish it was as clear to me as it is to you which one of you is the original."

She looked back up at him and he was relieved to see that the tears had stopped. "I would have thought it would be fairly obvious to you, sir."

He reached out again, smoothing her hair back from her face, and offered her a rueful smile. "Actually, as much as I wish that were the case, it's not. To be perfectly honest, neither one of you is acting like the Carter I know."

She nodded thoughtfully and considered his words. "You have to admit this is kind of upsetting, sir."

"Yeah, I'll give you that." He watched as his hand, seemingly of its own accord, reached out to entwine with hers again. "But you have to admit we've run into upsetting situations before and you never seem to be upset by them. Or at least you never show it."

"After all this time, it really hurts to realize that you don't know me at all. And that's hard to hide."

There were a million reasons why Jack hadn't kissed Carter all the million times it had occurred to him that he'd wanted to kiss her. But there was one big one, the one that outweighed all the rest, the one that actually stopped him every single time - he was always afraid of Carter's reaction. He was afraid she'd be mad, that she'd resent it, that she'd push him away. They were both well aware that she was the more professional of the two. Not that he was particularly prone to displaying his emotions, it was just that she was even less likely to do so. That had, after all, been the gist of the conversation he'd had with Carter 1 which had prompted the conversation with Carter 2.

But the situation was finally different than all the others. At that moment, Jack found himself wanting very much, in fact, to comfort her. And for once, he knew she would be receptive. Even though he knew it was an absolutely, horrendously, unbelievably bad idea, he had to. He just had to. He released her hand, instead reaching forward to slide his hand along her jaw. His head was shouting at him that he was making a huge mistake, but his heart had already won. Using his hand, he guided her lips toward his. As he'd predicted, she didn't resist.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

It should have been amazing and fantastic and unimaginably wonderful. But the moment their lips touched, rather than the spark he expected, he felt guilt and fear and uncertainty. As sure as he wanted to be that he was with the right Carter, he couldn't be. He pulled back, meeting her eyes slowly.

"I'm sorry, Carter. I just-" He looked away, wishing he could crawl into a hole and hide until everything was back to normal. He didn't know what to say. He didn't think there was anything to say.

"It's ok. You're not sure."

He took the chance to look at her once again and was pleased to see that there were no tears. "Are you ok with that?"

She shrugged. "As much as I don't like it, I understand." She smiled, although it appeared a little forced, like far too many of her smiles over the years. "I guess it's actually reassuring in a way."

"You're right, like always." He stood up, offering his hand to help her up. She contemplated it for a second, but in the end, she didn't accept it, choosing to stand up on her own. He wouldn't really have expected any differently from Carter.

"We should probably see what she's up to, sir." Carter 2's grimace made it quite clear that she'd prefer to stay there with him alone.

"I feel kind of bad for leaving Daniel and Teal'c with her." Jack winked at her; he preferred to be with the nice one. "She's mean."

Carter smiled as she fell in step beside him. "I really hope you don't think I'm mean, sir."

Jack shook his head, hoping she was in a better mood and not faking it because he didn't want her to take his words the wrong way. "No, I don't, but I've never known you to be unsure of yourself either." He grinned, immediately remembering their first meeting, when he'd tried as hard as he could to do the impossible - to shake her confidence. "I seem to remember someone challenging their new CO to arm wrestle."

She grinned widely at him. "It got your attention, didn't it?"

"It certainly did."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached the group, Teal'c looked absurdly pleased to see them. Daniel was too, greeting them with a smile that was quickly swallowed by a yawn. Carter 1 was standing just behind Daniel, trying to lean over him.

"O'Neill, this Major Carter insisted on waking Daniel Jackson to begin the translation immediately."

To his horror, Jack watched as Daniel, still half-asleep, reached toward one of the panels. "Daniel!"

Daniel jerked his hand back, glancing between Jack and Carter 1. He seemed more afraid of Carter 1, which was understandable because of the intimidating stare she'd fixed on him. "Jack, she wants me to figure out how to reverse this thing."

"Daniel, I told you specifically not to touch that damn thing. Don't we have enough problems at this moment?"

Daniel peeked at Carter 1 quickly before his frightened stare turned back to Jack. "She's armed, Jack, and she infinitely scarier than you. Next time, you take the mean one."

Jack noticed Carter 2's brilliant smile at Daniel's compliment, but he also saw Carter 1's glare. He was certain, unless he voiced the order in explicit detail, that Carter 2 was going to get her ass kicked. He grinned as he remembered - Carter 1 was scary, but she seemed very big on obeying orders. He was able to intercede and quite proud of it. "Carter." He ignored Carter 2, figuring she'd know he wasn't talking to her for the moment. "There will be no blanket parties for this Carter. That's an order."

Carter 1 looked even more miserable, if that was possible, but she didn't argue. "Yes, sir."

"Now, why are you torturing Daniel in the middle of the night?" Jack's exasperation was showing through in his tone.

Carter 1 did not look happy that she was getting exasperation from Jack while Carter 2 had received decidedly more positive attention. "I thought that getting rid of the copy of me as soon as possible might be in everyone's best interest. Daniel is our best resource for resolving this problem."

"And I thought I made it perfectly clear that I didn't want you to touch that damn thing again, Carter." The exasperation changed to anger, although Jack was refusing to admit it was over the notion of getting rid of the Carter that he, admittedly under duress, liked better.

Answering anger flashed in her eyes. "I'm not touching it, sir."

"Getting someone else to touch it counts as DDO, Carter." He turned to Daniel, who he had also expressly told not to touch the device either. "Did she tell you to touch it?"

Daniel shook his head, but Jack wasn't sure if it was the truth or if Daniel was just afraid of Carter 1. "She just told me to try translating it starting around here."

"Ok, Daniel, Teal'c, listen to me carefully. Neither one of you are to do anything either Carter tells you to do unless I say so until I tell you otherwise." Jack refused to look at the two pairs of angry blue eyes aiming in his direction. "With that said, Daniel, did you get anywhere with the translation?"

To her credit, Carter 1 looked away, which somewhat hid the smug grin on her face.

Daniel shrugged. "I think that she was right about this being the beginning of the text, but I have no reference materials and I'm not familiar with this writing. It may be an obscure dialect of the Ancients."

Carter 1 kicked at the pack at her feet. "Damn it, Daniel, anyone can translate something with a damn dictionary. Aren't you supposed to know every language ever created?"

Instead of running in fear as Jack would have expected, Daniel stood up and spun around. He took a step toward Carter 1, leaning right into her face as he snapped back. "Why don't you translate it since you're so damn smart?"

"Fine!" She squatted down in his former place.

"Carter!" Jack was prepared to yell. He was rapidly growing so frustrated with the situation that he would have welcomed the opportunity to release some of it. But one word - her name - was enough to send Carter 1 scurrying back away from the machine. Satisfied that she was going to behave for the moment, he turned on Daniel. "Could you try not to encourage her?"

Daniel retreated back to his sleeping bag. "It's not like she needs any encouragement."

"O'Neill." Teal'c's calm voice was so welcome that Jack nearly hugged him for interrupting. "Major Carter appears to be injured." Of course, his words weren't welcome at all.

Jack turned, surveying Carter 1 first. Seeing no injury, he turned to look at Carter 2, who was still standing mutely by his side. He'd barely even noticed the way one of her hands was cradled in the other. But sure enough, there was a steady line of blood across the back of her hand. His first instinct told him to treat her injury. But he stared at her hand instead, reassured by the perfectly normal red blood seeping from the wound.

He managed to pull his eyes away from it, only to find that Daniel and Teal'c were staring at her as well. He turned to Carter 1, offering a silent challenge to her.

Carter 2 rolled her eyes once again at Jack. She grabbed the knife from her belt and before Jack could think to stop her, she yanked the blade down hard across her palm.

Jack was thoroughly disappointed to see another streak of red appear in its wake. As disheartening as it was to discover that the answer was not going to be so easy, Jack found it was far more disturbing to realize that Carter 1 hadn't even flinched.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Jack checked his watch and sighed. It was 4 AM SGC time. Heaven only knew what the local time was, but considering when the sun had set, he decided it was close enough. Normally he wouldn't expect everyone to be awake and marching at that hour, but everyone was up and, as far as he was concerned, marching away from the device was the best thing to do just then, even if certain scientific-minded members of his team weren't aware of it.

He turned to Daniel. "Provided we get your books, how long will it take to make sense of this?"

Daniel did his usual hemming and hawing. "Hours? Days? Weeks? Until I get a better idea of what I'm working with, I can't give you an answer, Jack."

"Ball park, Daniel." Jack wondered with well practiced patience, if Daniel would ever recognize the pattern and eventually learn to give him an answer the first time he asked the question.

Daniel gave his usual frustrated sigh, indicating that he did recognize the pattern and was wondering if Jack would ever stop asking him impossible questions. "I need a few hours and the reference materials to give you a ball park, Jack."

"Then get out the camera and get all the details you'll need. We are not coming back here until we know which buttons to press in which order to fix Carter. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Daniel immediately started filming the device with Teal'c assistance holding the flashlights. While they were working, Jack went about disarming both Carters. Neither one was happy about it, but he decided it was necessary until he was sure they weren't going to hurt each other or themselves. He inspected the cuts on their hands as well, judging them both to be superficial.

When he glanced back, he saw that Daniel had finished with the camera. He was holding a sheet of paper and a pencil and appeared mere milliseconds away from making physical contact with the machine from hell. "Daniel! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm making a rubbing of this section in case there is some significance in the placement of the raised characters."

"And what if the significance is that's how you make a second Daniel?"

Daniel, whose irritation from not being allowed to study the device first only worsened with lack of sleep, took Carter 1's lead and glared at Jack. "Maybe then we can make a copy of all of us so the copies can keep each other company while the real ones can ascertain the purpose of this piece of technology."

Jack was irritated himself and was only spurred on by Daniel's flippant comment. "Or?"

"Or maybe the copy of me can tell which Sam is real."

Jack squatted down until he was face to face with Daniel, ignoring the way his knees protested the move. "What if it doesn't actually produce a copy, Danny?"

Daniel contemplated Jack for a second. Then he slowly contemplated each of the Carters in turn. When he finally faced Jack again, he smiled patiently. "Well, unless Sam's twin has been hanging out on this planet for a while, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to pretend she's really Sam, then the machine does make copies, exactly like you told us."

Jack smiled back, with his own patient grin back in place. "When have I ever been right?" He waited while Daniel floundered for an answer. "You know Carter as well as I do, right?" He continued when Daniel nodded. "Does either one of these women actually seem like Carter to you?"

Daniel looked at the Carters again, pondering both the irritated glare of Carter 1 and the crushed expression of Carter 2. "Um, no, not really."

Carter 2, devastated by the revelations of both Jack and Daniel, grabbed Teal'c's arm. "You know it's really me, right?"

Annoyed, Teal'c pulled his arm free of her grasp. "Although each of them behaves in a somewhat characteristic manner for Major Carter, I do not believe either of them possesses all of her qualities."

Daniel suddenly turned several shades of green. "So maybe the machine creates clones but in so doing destroys the original?"

Jack shook his head, refusing to hear it. "Let's hope not." Feeling guilty, he glanced up at the Carters. Carter 1 still looked angry. He looked at Carter 2, who still appeared stunned by the news that none of the guys believed her. Her chin was trembling. He knew he should say something; it was his fault for voicing his concern.

Carter 1 beat him to it. "Oh, will you knock it off?"

Luckily, irritation clouded Carter 2's hurt feelings. "No one likes you, so shut up."

Carter 1 laughed. "I don't care if they like me as long as they listen to me." She glanced at Jack and smirked. "Besides, Colonel O'Neill likes me just fine."

"Yeah, well, Jack likes me better!" Carter 2's choice of names for Jack caught everyone's attention except for the Carters.

"You're a whiny, crybaby. He doesn't like you. He's just afraid you'll start crying again." She turned to look at Jack. "Sir, you can't seriously think she's anything like me."

Sadly, as much as he had been pulling for Carter 2, Carter 1's statement struck a chord with him. Instead of answering her, he shrugged at Daniel.

Carter 2 didn't seem affected by her double's words, but Jack had a feeling she'd feel differently once she had a chance to mull them over. "You're a bitch."

"And you're weak."

Daniel leaned over, trying to keep the Carters from noticing him. "Jack, she's pretty hard on herself, isn't she?"

Jack shook his head. "No, she's not hard on herself. She's really, really mean." He was glad he'd disarmed them.

He stood up slowly and took a deep breath, knowing he was the only one who stood a chance of making peace and that was only because he was Carter's CO. "Carters! Cut the crap." He moved between them, mentally preparing himself to stop being nice. The novelty had worn off and the duplicates were getting on his last nerve. "This is not a democracy. I'm calling the shots. Carters, I don't want to hear another word from either of you unless it has some useful purpose. Calling each other names doesn't count." He snarled at Carter 1, before feeling guilty for seeming to come down harder on her. "Glaring and crying aren't particularly productive either, so I expect that to stop as well." Both women accepted the admonishment without comment. He leaned down, pulling plastic ties from his pack. Then he pointed at Carter 1. "Teal'c, you're responsible for that one." He handed Teal'c one of the ties. "If she gives you any trouble, restrain her." He was really hoping it wouldn't come to that because he wasn't honestly sure he could stand by and watch that happen.

Carter 1 was steaming. Jack had never, ever seen her so angry. He had a feeling that, once this dilemma was attended to, he'd be groveling for the rest of his natural life, plus a few visits to the sarcophagus to make up for suggesting such a thing. True to her nature, though, she quickly covered the dismay on her face. Accepting her silence as acquiescence, he turned to Carter 2. "The same goes for you."

She nodded, every bit as angry as Carter 1. However, she hid it just as quickly. "That won't be necessary, sir."

"Good, I hope not." He turned to Daniel. "Let's go. You're taking point."

Perhaps it was the surprise at Jack's sudden, uncharacteristic anger with his friends or perhaps it was the complete lack of any valid disputes of his reasoning, but the team, plus one, complied. Daniel led the group. He was followed by Teal'c, who was keeping a cautious, distrustful eye on Carter 1. Jack brought up the rear with Carter 2 at his side. He was watching her, but he was pretty certain she wasn't about to try anything. He'd made Carter 1 Teal'c's responsibility because he deemed her the more likely to cause trouble and Jack knew he'd never in a million years find the strength within himself to physically restrain Carter, even if she wasn't really Carter.

He did worry about the damage the whole situation would end up causing Carter in case he was wrong and one of them was really her. It would probably take years for her to forgive him for threatening her with the ties and he was willing to bet Teal'c and Daniel weren't going to get off any easier since they hadn't objected. The three of them had admitted to not trusting either one of them. He knew that had to hurt. He could only hope that Carter, the real one, would understand.

As they walked, Jack tried to figure it out. Despite his argument to Daniel and Teal'c, one of them had to be Carter. Carter, the real one, wasn't as hard as Carter 1, but she wasn't as soft as Carter 2. Carter was always a major first, as Carter 1 seemed to be, while Carter 2 never would have survived the Air Force Academy. Of course, Carter wasn't a robot and she wasn't mean - Jack was well aware of the strong feelings she occasionally let bubble to the surface - the same ones that Carter 2 had revealed to him with her tears when they were alone.

The first rays of the sun began to appear along the horizon, giving Jack the irrational idea that things were going to get better. He snuck a peak at Carter 2, who true to her word, hadn't uttered a peep or moved one step away from his side. She was staring at the horizon, a soft smile lighting on her lips. Jack couldn't help himself; he never got the opportunity to see Carter when she wasn't in military mode. He smiled at her, nudging her gently with his elbow.

She turned quickly toward him, obviously expecting a reprimand or an order. When she realized neither was forthcoming, she smiled at him and playfully nudged him back.

And once again, Jack was faced with a painful realization, one that squeezed the air right out of his lungs. He never got to see Carter out of military mode. He never got to just smile at her without her questioning his motives. He never had the luxury of just being with her.

Because Carter was his second in command. Because they were a military unit. Because they never spent time together outside of work.

His smile faded as his eyes shifted to Carter 1. She was ten feet in front of him, keeping perfect step with Teal'c, right on Daniel's heels. She'd been the one to pick up the single pack. She'd been the one willing to injure herself without hesitation to prove that she was human. She was the one who was entirely focused on working with Daniel to get rid of the duplicate. She was stubborn, strong, and accepted his orders without question. She had to be the real one.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

He continued to stare at her back, unable to speak past the lump in his throat. He wasn't sure what he'd say if he could. Even if she forgave him, he wasn't sure he could forgive himself. He'd wanted Carter 2 to be the real one because she was different. She was emotional and sensitive and decidedly female. The guilt was choking him. He'd sided with one, not because she was particularly like the woman he knew, but because she was like the woman he wanted her to be. As much as he loved and respected Carter, he wanted to know Sam. Carter 2 exhibited all the qualities he wanted to get to see in Carter.

He felt an unfamiliar stab of jealousy at the thought that Daniel knew that side. Hell, Teal'c even knew that side better than Jack. But wishful thinking wasn't reality. He'd kissed one of them, a sparkling example of his ineptitude. Angry at himself, at Daniel for wanting to look around the planet in the first place, and at Carter for having successfully activated the machine without first determining what it was, he sped up, charging to the front of the group.

"We need to pick up the pace, Daniel."

He needed to get somewhere far away from Carter until there was only one of her and, hopefully, she would know nothing of his indiscretion.

His mood fueled his speed. Within a fairly short distance, Jack had surged away from the group. Daniel was trailing quite a bit behind them, adjusting his pack often, as he usually did when he was having trouble keeping up. Teal'c and Carter 1 were still together, halfway between Jack and Daniel. Carter 2 was struggling to keep up with Jack, but she was staying closer to him than to Teal'c. Jack paused and waited for the other to catch up.

"Teal'c, trade." He nodded at Carter 1. He knew it was probably a pathetic attempt to make up for his earlier obvious favoritism, but he thought trying to pretend that he was just dividing the time evenly might help. He refused to look at Carter 2 as Teal'c stepped toward her. He refused to look at Daniel and Teal'c as well. Undoubtedly they would recognize the distress in his face, in his eyes, and by that point, that only thing that was holding him together was the fact that no one knew he was falling apart.

Carter 1 stepped up to his side, saying nothing regarding his change of heart. When he began walking again, she stayed right with him, never falling a step behind. He knew it should be a comfort since he would never expect less from her. He glanced over at her, wanting to share a smile like he had with the other Carter. She looked right back at him, a blank, eager stare with no warmth whatsoever.

Cold fear took up residence in his heart, realizing he'd confirmed his fear - he truly didn't believe either one of them was Carter anymore. Whatever that machine had done, whatever it was meant to do, it had taken Carter away.

They stopped after an hour to rest and have some breakfast. Oddly enough the Carters chose to sit relatively close to each other. He told himself it was only a coincidence, but as he chose to sit several yards away from them, he noticed the odd way they were watching each other, glancing at each other. Daniel and Teal'c sat down near Jack and they warily stared at the women.

Teal'c nodded toward the Carters. "They seem to have calmed considerably toward one another."

"She's thinking." Daniel was picking at his food, the same way the Carters were. "They're thinking."

Jack shrugged and stuffed the rest of his breakfast in his mouth. "I hope they come up with something good."

A few minutes later, Carters' voices rang out in complete unison. "I have an idea."

Jack turned to Daniel. "This will be the brilliant idea, right?"

Daniel shrugged. "I just hope it's the same idea."

Teal'c looked worried. "I do not wish to witness another argument between them."

"One would hope that it's the same idea since they both came up with it simultaneously." Daniel furrowed his brow. "But since they don't have the same personality, it might be a stretch for them to arrive at the same idea at the same time."

An odd sort of comfort came over Jack as he looked back and forth between the two Carters. Such clarity and understanding were rare for Jack to arrive at on his own, but considering that it involved Carter, he decided he was the most likely of the three men to figure it out. "It's the same idea because they're the same."

"What?" Daniel looked like he thought Jack was completely insane. Teal'c shared a concerned glance with Daniel.

The Carters were grinning at Jack. He figured it was either forgiveness for his inability to distinguish between them or pride that he'd come to the same conclusion as them. Jack smiled back. "Does this mean you'll get along now?"

The Carters shrugged at one another.

"Jack? What's going on?"

"The machine didn't copy her or clone her, Daniel. It split her down the middle."

"How is that possible, O'Neill?"

Jack shrugged. "That's for Daniel and the Carters to figure out. All I know is they're both really her." He found himself grinning once again at the thought of two Carters, an entirely guilt-free thought since they were actually the same person. Both Carters rolled their eyes at him.

"This still does not explain why they do not appear to like each other." Teal'c was actually more intrigued by the idea that Carter hadn't been copied.

Daniel was catching on faster and took a minute to explain it while Jack walked over to sit closer to Carter. "There are two sides of her, Teal'c. There's Sam the woman and Major Carter the Air Force officer."

Teal'c nodded thoughtfully. "It would seem that she has unresolved internal conflicts pertaining to those opposing personalities."

"I think everyone does, Teal'c. You, for example, are exactly the same."

"I am not." Teal'c looked offended.

"One side of you is a strong warrior, like Major Carter. That part of you is strong and unemotional. Then there's the other side of you - the side that is a father and was a husband. You're able to love very deeply."

"O'Neill is the same."

"Yeah, I think that's what binds them together." He nodded at Jack and the Carters. "They both have that struggle. It's just one more thing they have in common."

"This should be a liberating experience for the emotional side of Major Carter."

Daniel was confused once again. "How so?"

"I believe the strong, unemotional side of Major Carter mostly has control. I believe the feminine side of Major Carter is often crushed behind military protocol."

"Which explains why Jack is so damn fascinated by her."

"Yes, it does. He does not get to see her often."

"I don't think he ever sees her." Daniel started to smile. "Maybe we should take the other Carter and give them some alone time."

Teal'c didn't smile. "I fear that will only serve to complicate their relationship further. And I also believe Major Carter will be greatly angered by such an action."

The pair looked over at the Carters. Jack and Carter 2 were laughing at something, but Carter 1 was glaring at Carter 2 again. "Yeah, Teal'c, she does seem to be a bit territorial about him, doesn't she?"

"Indeed."

The friends lapsed into silence, choosing to mull over their thoughts quietly while they watched the group before them.


	9. Chapter 9

_AN: Another short chapter. I won't even go into the horror that is my life, but I promise, I'm still working on this every chance I get! Please R&R!_

Chapter Nine

Jack was considerably happier when they started walking again. Granted he had serious issues with Carter being split in two, but they weren't nearly as serious as the issue of having possibly kissed the wrong Carter. He was still going to have to explain his behavior to the considerably less than enthusiastic, less inviting side of Carter, but he figured she was the same Carter on some level, so she had to share the same feelings. He was heartened by the idea that she had indicated something along those lines when they were talking by the fire. So he felt quite relieved that he hadn't accidentally or unconsciously betrayed Carter in any way, shape, or form. And since Carter 2 hadn't tried to stop him when he kissed her, he was kind of hoping that Carter 1 would just let it go, especially if she only found out about it after she once again shared a body with her other half.

Knowing, or at least being convinced, that he could trust both Carters as much as he trusted himself, he allowed Carter 1 to take point. After two hours of practically running without a break, he was seriously regretting that decision. But he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of having him ask her to slow down. He knew Carter 1 was the competitive part, the one that always wanted to beat everyone at everything, and he knew, without a doubt, that she'd gloat unmercifully if he cried uncle. Checking over his shoulder for Daniel and Carter 2, he grinned. He could make it a little longer; one of them would fold first.

A minute later, Daniel's voice rang out. "Hey, Sam, do we have to run?"

Carter 1 turned around, obviously disappointed with the way the other four were looking at her hopefully. "We're hardly running."

Jack smiled again. At that point, he could step in without seeming weak, which he was fairly certain was the one trait that could cure Carter 1 of any affection she might feel for him. "Carter, let's slow it up a bit."

Carter 1's shoulders slumped. "Yes, sir."

Carter 2 cleared her throat and looked around uncomfortably when all eyes turned to her. Philosophical differences aside, it was clear that the Carters were in agreement. "We really have no idea what's happened to me. There might be a time limit to fixing it before it becomes permanent or something."

Jack couldn't help the huge smile that slowly spread across his face at the thought of having two real live Carters around forever. "Would that really be so bad, ladies?"

Carter 2 blushed, but Jack saw a smile lighting up her eyes. Then she boldly met Jack's stare. "She could go to work and I could stay at home." She didn't need to name whose home; the way she was staring at Jack made it quite clear. Daniel swallowed hard, stared at Carter 2 with wide eyes, and took a few steps toward Teal'c. Teal'c glanced at her for only a moment before he raised his eyebrow and turned away. As much as Jack wanted to be alone with Carter 2 at that moment, Daniel and Teal'c wanted to not be anywhere near either of them.

Carter 1, on the other hand, uttered a surprised sound that was a cross between a shriek and a growl. Jack peeled his eyes off the Carter who was blatantly flirting with him despite their audience and looked at the other. Her mouth was hanging open. Her eyes were wide. She looked exactly like he would have imagined her looking if he'd propsitioned her the day they'd met - absolutely horrified, angry, humiliated, and stunned. Apparently, without the emotional component, Carter was really completely unprepared to deal with flirting. She turned away and started her controlled almost-sprint back to the gate.

Jack realized, as he noticed the discomfort on Daniel's and Teal'c's faces, that Carter 1 hadn't reacted nearly so badly when they were alone. He ruminated on it while he tried to keep up with her. He came to a conclusion just as he heard the first chevron locking on the gate. Carter 1 was assured of her position with him and had no cause to ignore their bond, except that she firmly expected it never to be brought up, felt no compelling desire to discuss it, and certainly never with any witnesses. He'd felt bad for embarrassing her at first, but as he watched her smashing her fingers angrily into her GDO, he decided he didn't feel guilty at all. It was all her fault, after all, that they'd never dared revisit the topic of their relationship. It was her brilliant idea to pretend the whole za'tarc fiasco hadn't actually happened. It was her rampant denial of their feelings that drove him to make inappropriate comments in the first place so he could get a rise out of her. She deserved to be embarrassed. If it hadn't been for her, they would have been married with three kids by then.

Jack rarely felt nervous leading his team home and he'd never felt anything near the anxiety and trepidation he felt at that moment. But he was about as likely as Carter 1 to reveal such a thing. So he smiled as he stepped through. Jack watched curiously as the general approached; he wanted to see the moment the older man fully grasped the problem. He imagined it would be quite amusing.

Hammond strolled up to meet them at the bottom of the ramp. He smiled his typical, warm smile at Jack. His eyes slowly slid across the team as the moved to stand shoulder to shoulder before him. He smiled as Carter 1, who was on Jack's right, then at Daniel, then Teal'c. With confirmation that all was well, his eyes returned to Jack, briefly flitting to Carter 2 as she stepped up to Jack's left.

The general, whose delay of processing the facts was probably due to the instinctive inability to comprehend the impossible, didn't react as Jack had hoped. "How did it go?"

Jack heard the thick silence as all the personnel in the area slowly cued in on the problem. He watched as the general's mouth fell open and his brow furrowed. Jack grinned. He'd spent his whole life being a smart ass and he saw no reason, under the circumstances, that he should exercise good judgment at that particular moment. "Well, sir, apparently I've died and gone to heaven."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

At his remark, Carter 2 slugged him in the stomach. Carter 1 cringed, but Jack couldn't be sure whether it was over his words or that fact that her other half had just physically assaulted her CO. Hammond looked back and forth between the two women several times before his eyes settled on Jack.

"What in God's name happened?"

Jack just kept grinning, figuring Hammond was too busy trying to understand to actually listen. "God finally got around to answering some prayers, sir?"

"Sir!" If Carter 1's yelp didn't reveal how mortified she was, the fact that she hid her face in her hands did.

Hammond took a wary step back from the group, obviously fearing they were all imposters. "Sergeant Harriman, I need some SFs in here now!"

Jack took a step forward. "Sir, that's not necessary." He was treading on thin ice and he had to explain. As best he could. "That humming thing on the planet that Daniel told you about? Well, sir, at first we thought it was a copy machine because, well-" He motioned at the Carters. "But it turns out that it actually somehow split her in two."

"What are you saying, Jack?"

He nodded at Carter 2. "There's a nice one and-" He nodded at Carter 1. "A mean one, sir."

Hammond didn't look any less confused. "What?"

"They're both Major Carter, sir."

Carter 1 cleared her throat, stepping forward next to Jack and glaring at him over the mean one remark. "Actually, sir, what the colonel meant to say is that I'm Major Carter." She smiled politely, hoping that Hammond would instinctively trust her.

Hammond looked alarmed once again, stepping back further to allow the SFs access to the group. "If she's Major Carter, who is she?" He pointed at Carter 2, who was, quite blatantly smiling at one of the SFs, who was, quite blatantly grinning back like an idiot.

Carter 2 turned to face Hammond once she noticed Jack's almost imperceptible jealous glance. "I'm Sam."

Hammond didn't appear at all comforted. "Colonel, your team, including both of them, is to report to the infirmary immediately." He faced the SFs. "You will escort them to the infirmary. From there, take them to isolation quarters, where they will remain until I've had a chance to discuss the matter with Dr. Fraiser."

Jack nodded unhappily. There was nothing like an extra teammate to merit several needles in the ass from someone who took her frustration over being short out on others relative to their height. He could already anticipate not being able to sit comfortably for several days and his butt twitched in apprehension. "Yes, sir."

Carter 1 narrowed her eyes at Carter 2. "This is all your fault."

Carter 2 looked dismayed. "Who taught you to be so mean?" As far as Carter 2 was concerned, they had the same history.

Carter 1 glared at her. "The Air Force Academy. Where were you?"

Carter 2 smirked as a dreamy expression passed over her face. "Oh, I was busy flirting with Tommy McCade."

Carter 1's cheeks flushed red. "Tommy McCade was an instructor! He was thirty!"

"So?" Carter 2 was still smiling at the memory. "He didn't mind."

Carter 1 shook her head, her eyes darting to Jack for a second. "What is it with you and older men?"

Carter 2 fixed Carter 1 with a stare that Jack recognized - she was going in for the kill. "It's not all older men - just the authority figures."

Jack was as horrified as Carter 1. Such a statement would have been bad enough with only Daniel and Teal'c to overhear. With such a large audience as the group of SFs escorting them - especially considering the way several of them were grinning - it was unforgivable. Carter 1 buried her tomato-red face behind her hands and whined. It was such an obvious gesture of defeat that when coupled with the blush that was creeping down her neck, Jack couldn't help but come to the defense of the Carter he knew so well - the professional, military side.

He turned to glare at the smug Carter 2. "Was that absolutely necessary?"

Carter 2 grinned cheekily. "Yes, sir." When she realized he wasn't amused, she tried to suppress the smile. "Maybe not, sir."

"Then maybe you shouldn't say things like that, Carter."

She cocked her head to the side. "I prefer Sam, sir."

Jack rolled his eyes and shook his head. Whether she was trying or not, "Sam" didn't seem to have that military edge that Carter possessed. And Jack had a feeling he wasn't going to be able to force her to change.

Carter 1 let her hands fall back to her sides as they were escorted into a rather cramped elevator. As it was, only the Carters, Jack and three guards fit. The others had to wait. Jack should have known that Carter 1 was not going to be beaten so easily. "Sir, I realize the ultimate goal here is to put us back together, but I really don't see the need for it. I assure you, I possess the qualities and characteristics you've come to expect from Major Carter. I could possibly even be persuaded to loosen up a bit. She, on the other hand, had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. We could just kill her."

Jack, Carter 2, and the guards turned to stare at her. All of them came to realize that she wasn't being mean; she was dead serious. Clearing his throat, Jack promised himself he wasn't going to kill either one of them before they were fixed. "We can't kill her Carter."

"Why not, sir?" Her voice had changed the slightest bit from her normal one - she was whining.

Unfortunately, Jack was stumped - the only thing that sprang to his mind was 'just because' and he doubted that would stop Carter from doing anything.

Luckily, Carter 2 piped up. "Because we're the same person. There's no way of knowing what result tat would have."

Carter 1 shrugged. "I'll take my chances." She looked at jack, who was still stupefied that Carter had suggested such a thing and was mulling over the possible psychological ramifications inherent in the notion that Carter apparently sort of wanted to kill herself. "Sir, let's get rid of her. She's useless."

The timing of Carter's words was impeccable. The elevator doors opened just as she finished speaking. Carter 2, Sam rather, over sensitive as she was, ran right through them. Two of the SFs ran after her, leaving one very nervous young man to guard Jack and Carter. He was acutely aware he couldn't chase both Carter and Jack if they too chose to run. Thankfully for him, Jack and Carter had no interest, for the moment, in escaping.

Jack turned to Carter 1 with a disappointed glare. "Do you have to be so mean to her? Don't you feel anything?"

Carter 1 swallowed hard and held his eyes as she replied in a hoarse whisper after way too long a pause. "Yes."

Jack felt a chill run through him at the intensity of her stare. She was good at hiding it, but he no longer doubted that she felt it. They were the same woman, after all, which meant that somewhere, deep down, they did share their emotions. The longer he stared at her, the more he saw. Her feelings were buried under military protocol like his were, but he knew she was hurting. He'd hurt her just then by immediately defending the other Carter, he could see that, but there was more hurt there too and he had to know.

He knew it was a bad idea the moment it formed, but it didn't stop him. He tuned to the SF who was with them. "Go see what's keeping them, sergeant." When the man hesitated, Jack continued. "We're not going anywhere." The younger man uncertainly marched off after his compatriots.

Jack knew he only had a few moments before either their escorts or the second group would arrive, so he moved quickly. He grabbed Carter's arm and dragged her behind him.

"What are you doing, sir? Where are you taking me?" There was more than a little panic in her voice, as though she was suddenly afraid Jack was going to kill her instead of the other Carter. She kept glancing over her shoulder, making it clear to anyone who might have seen that she was moving against her will.

Jack continued to lead her around the next corner. "Why were you being so hard on her? What's going on, Carter?" He wasn't really expecting an answer; he was just trying to distract her from the fact that she could most certainly kick the crap out of him if she thought about it for a moment - especially since he wouldn't raise a hand against her even to defend himself.

"She told me, sir."

Jack glanced at her as he found what he was looking for. He quickly spun the locks to open the access shaft, shoving Carter into the tiny, dark passage way before she could think to fight. Ok, so he hadn't been looking for the access shaft to the surface in particular; he'd just been aiming for one of the few areas on the base without a camera. Of course, her declaration put a whole different spin on the situation. "She told you what, Carter?"

"Is it true?"

Jack realized in one shining moment of clarity that the reason there were no camera was that there was no light either. He hadn't known she was crying until he heard her choked voice. "No." He had no clue what she was talking about, but he certainly hadn't done anything to hurt her. Not unless she was talking about…

"You didn't kiss her?"

Jack squeezed his eyes closed and bit his lip to keep from crying out. He felt like he'd been sucker punched. Carter 1 had the same feelings as Carter2; therefore, it would follow that Carter 2 had the same calculating mind as Carter 1. They just opted to express themselves differently. "So maybe I was wrong about you being the mean one, huh?"

She was silent for a moment and Jack waited in the silence for her to ask why he'd hidden them away, since he showed no intention of actually attempting to climb the ladder and escape. But, as always, Carter didn't do what he expected. "Sir? Please?"

The vulnerability in her voice reminded him of the raw emotion he'd seen moments earlier which had spurred this ill-planned flight. He moved forward in the cramped area, feeling more than seeing Carter press herself back into the ladder to get away from him. "Please what, Carter?" His mind was entirely somewhere else and it had taken his common sense with it.

"Did you kiss her, sir?" She sounded crushed.

So Jack did the only thing he could think to do to reassure her, which, coincidentally, was exactly what he'd intended when he'd dragged her down the hall. He cupped her face in his hands, surprisingly himself that he didn't accidentally poke her in the eye since he couldn't see a damn thing, and then leaned in to kiss her.

She pulled back before he was able to make contact. "You could just answer me, sir."

Jack groaned in frustration, but didn't move his hands from her face. "She's you, Carter. You're her. What difference does it make?"

"It makes a big difference to me, sir."

He grinned, knowing she couldn't see it, yet somehow expecting that she'd know it anyhow. He leaned forward again, whispering softly to her. "So let me make it up to you."

And that time, she didn't resist.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Unlike when he'd kissed Carter 2, there was no question in his mind that he was with the real Carter. Half of her anyway. There was no hesitation or fear or worry, just emotion - the very same emotion he never let himself feel. He loved her, pure and simple, and it was his one chance to convey that to her in the simplest possible terms.

His hands slipped back further into her hair, trapping her mouth on his - not that she was trying to get away. He opened his mouth to deepen the kiss, trailing his tongue lightly across her lips. She whimpered softly as she offered him access and clutched his jacket tightly.

Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her fully against him, he felt her weight sag suddenly into his arms. He grinned against her mouth. He'd never actually made a woman weak in the knees before and the fact that it was Carter - well is did nothing to quell his inflated ego. Kissing her was like a drug - his thoughts shut down until all he could process was how very good it felt to kiss her and mean it.

The sound of the alarms started quietly, barely making a dent in his foggy brain. But as he registered the fact that Carter was no longer clinging to him, the alarms grew louder. By the time he realized that she wasn't just not clinging to him, but actively pushing him away, the alarm was deafening.

He felt her hands shoving at him, but his senses were overloaded at the moment and he didn't let go of her. Instead, he tried to pull her back to him, the vague, hazy idea occurring to him that if he could just get her to kiss him again it would stop the alarms and her resistance. He leaned forward again.

And instantly, a hard slap fell across his cheek.

It certainly wasn't what he'd been expecting, but it was exactly what he needed to bring himself back to reality. A very dark, cramped reality hiding out in an access shaft with his second in command who'd just, quite literally, had to slap some sense into him. His arms released her automatically while he blinked stupidly in the darkness. His hand moved to his cheek where he could still feel the stinging sensation. He wasn't entirely sure why she'd hit him since she'd seemed a perfectly willing participant in the kiss. He vaguely recalled her resisting there at the end, but he couldn't believe she'd been that upset because all she'd done was slap him - if he'd hurt her, or she'd thought he was trying, he was pretty sure the damage would be far, far worse than a slap.

He searched for her eyes in the darkness and found nothing. "Carter?"

"Sir, this is really quite improper behavior." Her voice was laced with disdain, but he couldn't understand how willingly she'd kissed him back.

"Carter?"

His confusion must have been painfully obvious to her. The next thing he felt was her palms against his cheeks as she pressed a quick kiss on his lips. "Perhaps your timing could use some work."

The sensation of her lips against his erased any thought of the slap. But his mind was no closer to understanding with more contradictory information to process. "Carter?"

"Do you hear the alarm, sir? I believe that's for us."

"Oh, right." He almost defended his denseness by explaining that being anywhere around her and, more recently added, kissing her rendered him into a semi-conscious stupor due to his blood flow redirecting to points south, but, in a moment of clarity, he decided that statement was probably likely to get him slapped as well.

"We should probably talk about this, right, Carter?" He winced as he said it, remembering that the talking about it after was exactly why he never gave in to the urge to kiss her.

"Honestly, sir, I'm more concerned about the impending court martial. I'm not a big fan of talking about this kind of stuff."

Jack grinned at her in the darkness before pushing open the door behind him. "God, I love you."

He didn't mean to actually voice the words and didn't even realize he had until Carter looked up at him, wide-eyed disbelief causing her to trip ungracefully over the step in front of her.

She was sprawled comically on the floor at his feet. Very slowly, she lifted her face to stare at him. "What?"

Realizing from her reaction that he'd spoken out loud, his own eyes went wide. "Nothing?" Frustrating as it was, they seemed to do better specifically not talking about their relationship. In fact, it seemed very much as though Carter's coordination was based heavily on silence between them.

Her face still revealed shock, as though his voicing the words unexpectedly and unbidden wasn't something she would recover from for some time. Keeping her eyes on him suspiciously, she picked herself up off the floor. Jack closed the door to the access shaft, smiling to himself that he'd never think of it again without the delicious memory of kissing Carter. He tried to hide his grin as he turned back to her, but he failed miserably. He was grinning like an idiot. She looked terrified.

He started back toward the elevators where they'd run away, but Carter didn't move. "Come on, Carter." He reached back to snag her wrist, leading her the way he had before.

The alarms were still ringing like mad, but there was no one waiting for them. Obviously, no one expected that they were just down the hall, having a private moment, or that they would spontaneously return on their own. Jack knew they were in considerable trouble and he wasn't relishing the idea of getting yelled at. Normally, he wouldn't worry about talking his way out of it, but he couldn't very well explain to Hammond the perfectly legitimate reason he'd had to run off with Carter. He doubted that Hammond would understand or even believe that he'd absolutely needed to kiss Carter at that very moment. Not to mention that telling Hammond would defeat the purpose of finding a room without a camera in the first place.

After waiting, partially deafened by the continuous wail of the alarms, for several minutes, Jack looked at Carter and shrugged.

She still looked rather jumpy as she glared back. "If I'm going to get in trouble for this, I think you should know that I will tell on you, sir."

Jack couldn't believe it. "You wouldn't rat on me!"

"If it came down to my career I would." He realized her statement made a lot of sense considering which half of Carter he was talking to, especially when he remembered how quick she'd been to point at him during that little armband mix-up when he'd tried to blame the brawl at O'Malley's on her.

"You didn't seem to mind when I was kissing you."

At the word kissing, Carter's head jerked around, checking over both shoulders for anyone who might have heard. Satisfied there were no witnesses, she leaned in so her hiss could be heard over the alarm. "That is beside the point, sir."

Jack was heartened by the fact that she wasn't denying it. "You rat on me, I'll rat on you."

"It was your brilliant idea, sir."

Jack grinned smugly. "It was one of my better ones, wasn't it?"

Carter stared at him for a moment, trying to suppress the smile that wouldn't be denied. "You're going to get me court martialed, sir."

"If I do, I'll get you a really good lawyer." He ignored her answering glare and started leading her to the infirmary. He figured maybe if he turned them in, someone would stop the screeching.

It only took a second after they walked through the doors for someone to silence the alarm. Jack tried to ignore the fact that Carter, the one with him anyway, was doing her best to hide behind him. He saw Teal'c and Daniel being poked and prodded by nurses. He saw Carter 2 sitting on a cot, flirting shamelessly with the SF she'd been making eyes at in the gate room. He saw a very shocked Janet Fraiser with a phone to her ear and he made a mental note to thank her, since it was likely her call that stopped the alarms.

The sudden absence of the alarms left the room strangely silent. Even as his ears continued to ring, Jack realized it wasn't just the alarms that caused the quiet. Everyone, even Carter 2, had turned to stare at them.

Jack shrugged and figured it was because to everyone else it looked like he and Carter 1 had just tried to disappear. He shrugged noncommittally. "We got lost. These hallways all look the same."

Everyone continued to stare, not even acknowledging his pathetic attempt to lie and thus leaving Jack to feel particularly exposed. He had a feeling whatever he was missing, whatever undoubtedly obvious clue to their little rendezvous he hadn't noticed, was going to haunt him for a long time. He made a quick judgment call and decided that Carter 2 was the most likely to help him out. He met her eyes, unexpectedly finding them angry. "Carter?"

She folded her arms over her chest and turned away. "Don't even speak to me."

He had no idea why she was mad and it wasn't exactly the optimal situation to discuss their feelings, but he couldn't let it go. "Carter, what are you mad at now?"

"Uh, Jack?" Daniel busied himself with adjusting his glasses to avoid making eye contact as he nodded back at them.

Jack figured he was trying to help, but he still didn't have a clue. He glanced at Carter 1, who was staring at him with quite possibly more shock and befuddlement than anyone else. His eyes slowly made their way back to the floor, barely even noticing the way he was holding Carter's hand. But the anomaly slowly processed through his brain and his gaze returned to fix on their hands and their interwoven fingers.

He swallowed hard. It was not a blunder that he could easily rectify. There were simply far too many witnesses, not the least of which was the woman who appeared to have been well aware of it the whole time. He remembered reaching out for her wrist to bring her with him. He couldn't explain, however, how or when something had changed. He wanted to ask her why she'd just stared rather than calling his attention to it, but he belatedly realized that might have had something to do with why she appeared so freaked out by him.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and shook his head. "Fuck it. I give up."

And then he just waited for someone to say something. And he waited without letting go of her hand.


	12. Chapter 12

_AN: There's more written and it will be up soon. Life has been very hectic lately. Thanks for sticking with me!_

Chapter Twelve

When Janet finally approached them, Carter 1 happily volunteered to go first. Jack tried not to resent the way she snatched her hand away from him. Then he remembered the way she'd kissed him and decided he didn't care one bit that she was concerned with keeping up appearances.

As Carter 1 was examined, Jack made his way over to the SFs who were gathered around Carter 2. She certainly wasn't discouraging their attention, but Jack scattered them with a glare. Then he sat down on the bed opposite her, pretending not to notice the way she turned her head so as not to look at him.

"Carter?"

Reluctantly she glanced at him. "What?"

He wanted to point out that she shouldn't be mad at him for holding Carter 1's hand, but it wasn't true. And he felt that telling her she had a different reason to be mad at him was just asking for trouble. "Will you relax?"

Fire burned in her eyes as she glared. "She just suggested killing me and you decide to hold her hand." She winced openly. "You deserve each other."

"We'll fix you, Carter."

She sighed as though she didn't believe him. "And if you can't?"

"We will, Carter. It's what we do. We go through the gate. We get in trouble. We get out of trouble. Then we do it all over again." His words fell on deaf ears. She turned away. Jack did the same, letting his eyes fall on Carter 1. She was back to glaring, which he guessed was better than her being frightened of him. Of course, she was glaring at him and Carter 2, which he suddenly found annoying. He didn't particularly care if Carter was jealous of herself anymore. He didn't want to be around her until everything was normal again.

He pushed himself off the bed. "Whatever." Then he relocated to where Teal'c and Daniel were waiting for their exams. Both of them were watching him carefully. "What?"

Daniel glanced at Teal'c before answering. "You look mad."

"I'm not mad." He realized he was snarling and tried to force himself to stop. "I'm annoyed."

Teal'c smirked, displaying more emotion than he usually did. "Are you no longer amused by the prospect of having two Major Carters?"

Jack's shoulders drooped. "It's not as much fun as I thought it would be."

Daniel laughed and patted Jack's shoulder. "I'm sure you've learned a valuable lesson here."

Thinking of the kisses he'd shared with both Carters, a wide smile spread across his face. "Not really."

Not one to sit still for long, Jack hovered behind Janet while she examined Carter 1. He noticed that Janet had labeled her files the way Jack had - there was a Carter 1 and a Carter 2. But as she was examining Carter 1, she was making notes in Carter 2's file. Ever helpful, he tapped on the open folder. "You're doing it wrong."

Janet looked up from her attempt to measure Carter 1's blood pressure. "What exactly am I doing wrong, sir?"

"This is Carter 1 and the folder says Carter 2. You have them backwards."

Janet smiled patiently. "I labeled the other one Carter 1 because I examined her first."

Jack lifted Carter 1's hand, demonstrating the black mark. "See, she's clearly identified as Carter 1." Carter 1 helpfully nodded, but out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Daniel shaking his head.

Janet smiled again. "Yes, sir, thank you." Then she turned back to Carter 1 and made no moves toward correcting the problem.

Jack was not one to be ignored. "Look, doc, I have a system here and you're messing it up."

Janet glanced at Carter 1, then checked with Carter 2. Unsure which one of the women was the friend at whom she could roll her eyes without getting in trouble, she looked back at Jack. "I too have a system, sir, and I'd prefer not to mess it up myself."

"But your system is wrong!" Jack's whine drew a snicker from Carter 2. Carter 1 was staring straight ahead, wary of getting involved anymore that she already was. Jack grinned at her. "Carter, tell her you're Carter 1."

She turned to Janet. "I'm Carter 1."

From across the room, Carter 2's mutter of "sucker" was quite clear.

Janet looked disconcerted. "Ok, I'm just going to draw some blood from you and then I'll be finished." Carter 1 nodded.

Jack smiled. "Carter, don't let Dr. Fraiser draw any blood from you until your file is labeled correctly."

Janet ignored the comment and reached for Carter's arm. Carter 1 dutifully glanced at Jack and pulled her arm out of reach. Janet was dumbfounded. "Sam! What's the matter with you?"

Carter 2 answered from across the room. "I'm Sam. She's too stupid to think independently."

Teal'c growled while Daniel buried his face in his hands.

Janet looked at Jack. "Sir, I'd like to finish this exam if I may."

Jack pointed at Carter 1, opting to ignore the fight that was threatening to break out. "She's Carter 1. You can tell because she follows orders as opposed to that one over there who's trying to collect phone numbers from the SFs."

By the time Janet turned to look, the SFs had scattered once again, but she still caught the red blush on Carter 2's face. Janet looked back at Carter 1 and grinned. "Well, then, I'm overruling the colonel. Give me your arm."

Carter 1 looked sheepishly at Jack while obeying Janet. Once again annoyed, Jack retreated to sit with the guys.

Daniel tried to fight his smirk. "Thrill wore off again?"

"Shouldn't you be translating, Danny?"

Daniel ignored Jack's irritation, knowing for once that it had nothing to do with him. "Once I get the clearance to leave here, Jack."

Jack closed his eyes and tried to forget how they'd been ordered into isolation quarters. He wouldn't last if he had to spend much more time with two Carters. He'd either hurt himself or one of them. "As soon as you get permission, Daniel, I want you to translate faster than you've ever translated before, got it?"

"And what if the machine doesn't go in reverse?" Considering that the question, the doubt, came from the ever chipper, ever hopeful Daniel, it almost made a dent in Jack's firm belief that everything would be fine.

But Jack just pretended it didn't bother him. "Then we glue them together."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

A few minutes later, following quick exams for those members of SG-1 without duplicates, all five current members of the team were escorted to isolation quarters. It was only with a fair amount of finagling that Daniel was allowed to begin his translation while they were held, and only then after the SFs retrieved the references he requested since he was permitted to get them himself.

Daniel, who much preferred working in his own office alone, frowned at the Carters. He shook his head at Jack, who was not looking forward to spending time locked up with both Carters - certainly not with cameras and witnesses and most definitely not while both of them were being bitchy. Teal'c was also staring at the women, inherently distrustful of anything so unnatural.

Uncomfortable with the way her teammates were watching her, Carter 1 perched nervously on a chair across the room. Carter 2, however, was too angry at having been separated from her posse of adoring SFs to care that her friends were angry. She sprawled on the couch and took a nap.

Daniel turned back to his books and got to work, hoping that the machine's result wasn't permanent and praying that if it was, he wouldn't have to be the one to tell Jack. With nothing else to do short of getting into trouble with Carter 1, an idea which Jack was keeping in reserve in case he got really bored, he watched Daniel as intently as he could without bugging the younger man. He knew Daniel couldn't stand to be watched and Jack didn't want to risk slowing down the process.

Daniel worked for quite a while before he sat back with an intrigued expression. "Huh."

Jack was across the room in a flash. "What? What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just interesting."

"What is?"

"The device's original purpose. It was created to ease the strain on the community during wartime."

"What did they have to fight over?" Jack hadn't been impressed by the mud houses even after the copy machine from hell had been discovered.

"They used it on their armies so the military half could go to war and leave the other half to stay home and tend their farms."

An image of Carter in overalls and a flannel shirt popped into Jack's head and nearly caused him to choke from laughing so hard.

Daniel glanced at him, completely unaware of what Jack found so amusing. With no explanation forthcoming, Daniel shook his head and continued. "It also eased the minds of the soldiers' families because at least part of the soldier was guaranteed to survive."

As much as he hated to admit it, the mud house people had a point. It was a good idea to allow part of the soldier to survive. He'd lost so many friends over the years he'd be willing to only have half of each back rather than lose them entirely. Still, as nice as it seemed, it didn't feel right. It just wasn't right on some level. "So what went wrong?"

"I haven't finished translating it yet, but it seems to indicate the problem came in trying to get the halves back together."

The blood ran cold in Jack's veins. "But it can be done, right?"

Daniel ducked his head, sincerely wishing he hadn't said anything. "I don't know yet, Jack. As far as I can tell, the biggest problem was that the halves didn't want to go back together." He peeked at the Carters, who were sitting warily next to each other because there was nowhere else to sit. "This section is a warning that they won't get along and that the halves should be kept separated at all times."

Jack glanced at the two women who turned and backed away from each other at Daniel's words. "Why?"

"I'm not done, Jack. I don't know."

Jack's eyes were darting between Daniel and the Carters who appeared ready to square off against one another. "Ballpark, Daniel? Is it the damn bickering or are they likely to start killing people or what?"

Daniel slowly took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Jack, I can't give you a ballpark until I translate it."

Jack decided the Carters were stable enough for the moment and turned on Daniel. "Can you skim ahead?"

Daniel shook his head and put his glasses back on. "Doesn't this conversation seem the slightest bit familiar, Jack?"

"We have this conversation or one quite similar everyday, Daniel."

"Yes, we do." Daniel looked sick. "That is disturbing on so many levels."

"So, no to the skimming?"

"No to the skimming."

Jack nodded and was quiet for a beat. "Why did you bring it up if you weren't done, Daniel?"

"I didn't bring it up. You asked."

"Ah." Regardless of Daniel's answer, Jack was sure the frustrating exchange was not entirely his fault, although like with all their frustrating exchanges, he was too confused to determine how it wasn't entirely his fault. "So back to work then?" In the silence, Jack felt it coming. The silence somehow had tone and Jack waited patiently.

"You know, this whole thing could have been avoided if I had been allowed to work on the translation first."

Jack smiled inexplicably. "You never disappoint me, Danny." Jack patted his friend on the shoulder. "But the device will work, right? Provided I can order them to do whatever they have to do to make it work?"

Daniel shrugged noncommittally, revealing that he was as confused by Jack as Jack had been by him. "I don't know."

Carter 1 walked over to them. "If it doesn't work, sir, we still have plan b."

Jack took a deep breath and reminded himself that he didn't really want to hurt her. "Need I remind you that killing her is not actually a viable solution, Carter?"

"Never mind then, sir." She went back to the couch to glare at her other half.

Daniel looked worried. "She's not serious."

Jack shrugged, not as concerned since it was not the first time he'd experienced Carter's decidedly homicidal streak. "You'd better finish this before we find out."

Two hours later, with Dr. Fraiser's recommendation, SG-1 was freed from isolation. They were still restricted to base, but Jack was free to get far away from the Carters.

Which is why he was particularly perplexed as to why he was hanging out in her lab with both of her. He knew it was partially because he was a little concerned they would try to kill each other. But he also knew it mostly had something to do with the fact that, although he was always transfixed by Carter, having just kissed both of her made her even more fascinating than usual. They were working quietly on different things, both ignoring the way Jack staring unabashedly. Surprisingly enough, they weren't the slightest bit territorial about the projects.

Carter 2 noticed Jack's confusion and smiled. "As much as I don't like her, sir, there's really no one else I'd trust to touch anything in here."

Jack looked offended. "Oh, so science projects you can share; me, you have to fight over." He froze at his own words, knowing he'd once again crossed that invisible line that would undoubtedly get him in trouble. Carter 1's face was red as she buried her nose in a book.

Carter 2 met his eyes and grinned. "You're better looking than most science projects." It was Jack's turn to blush and hide his face.

"Will you shut up?"

Jack peeked up to see Carter 1 toss a pen at Carter 2. Carter 2 hadn't been expecting to get beaned by a flying pen, but it didn't take her long to recover. She turned and hurled it back at Carter 1. Luckily, before it could degenerate further, Walter's voice sounded through the intercom.

"Major Carter to the control room." The Carters looked at each other and Jack waited for each to blame the other for something. Then Walter's voice sounded again. "Whichever Major Carter can fix a problem with the dialing computer to the control room."

Jack watched as the Carters contemplated one another. Carter 2 shrugged. Carter 1 spoke up. "I'll go." She looked nervous and Jack was mortified to realize she was worried about what he and Carter 2 would do when she wasn't there.

Carter 2 innocently went back to whatever she'd been working on, but as soon as Carter 1 was gone, she looked at Jack. "Hungry?"

He grinned. "Starving."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

As they made their way to the mess, Jack allowed himself to be amused by having two Carters once again. One of them was available to repair important things while the other one could keep him company. For the moment, it wasn't a bad deal at all.

The mess was deserted as they took their seats. Having only one Carter in his line of sight, especially considering that it was the one who laughed openly at his jokes, even the stupid ones, soothed his nerves. They were eating dessert, making easy conversation about nothing in particular, and being more relaxed then they usually could be together. At one point, while he watched her eyes dance as she smiled, he realized something he had never quite figured out until that moment.

Their counterparts from the other realities had moved much faster in their relationship than jack ever would have imagined himself moving. The first alternates they'd heard of, the ones only Daniel had met, had been engaged less than a year after they met. And the other one - the Samantha that had crashed their reality with Kowalsky - had already been celebrating their anniversary. Jack wasn't a particularly trusting soul and he was especially protective of his heart since it was the only sensitive part of him. When he remembered his own relationship with Carter at those points in time, he hadn't exactly been ready to marry her. Sure, he'd liked her and trusted her, but he'd barely known her. She wasn't exactly open herself. In fact, even after seven years, there were still a frightening number of mundane things he didn't know about her. He couldn't even swear to how she took her coffee.

He stared as she dumped six spoonfuls of sugar into her cup while she played with her jello. He grinned and mentally scratched one thing off his list of things he figured he should know about someone he'd been friends with for so long. She finally took a bite of her dessert, made a face, and then went back to playing with it. "You know, this doesn't even taste that good."

"Then why do you always get it?" Jack always stuck with either pie or cake, but that was because they were consistently good.

"Cause it's pretty. Blue is my favorite color."

Well, he could cross something else off his list of unknowns. Sam was certainly more upfront than Carter. She reached over with her fork and stole some of his cake. Her eyes were warm and inviting and he knew he could confide absolutely anything in her without her thinking any less of him. Carter 1 would probably be disappointed if he ever admitted to being scared after he had a bad dream because she looked up to her CO so much; Carter 2, Sam, would probably only love him more for wanting to cry on her shoulder.

That was when it hit him - why things had moved so fast in the other realities. Because without the hurdle of a military-minded Samantha Carter, he would have fallen in love with her in mere minutes and nothing would have prevented her from reciprocating.

And that knowledge answered the question that had always nagged at him - he knew there truly was no other reason they weren't together. The idea was startling because until then, he'd always been able to pretend, on some level, that he wasn't completely in love with Carter. He'd known he loved her, but the fact that he was really in love with her had somehow always managed to elude him. His jaw went slack as he looked at her. Somehow it was more shocking than hearing the other Jacks had been involved with the other Carters. Somehow it was more shocking than Carter's revelation, lie detector or not, that she loved him. Somehow it was more shocking than Carter calling him on his feelings that very same night. And somehow, although it didn't seem possible, it was even more shocking than Carter allowing him to kiss her.

He recalled the way Carter 1 had freaked when he said he loved her when he wasn't even entirely serious. Her panic suddenly made sense. He was pretty sure, based on the concern displayed on Carter 2's face, that he had that same wide-eyed expression.

"Are you ok, sir?"

He nodded, not trusting his voice.

"You don't look ok, sir."

He forced out words because he could just tell she wasn't going to drop it. "I was just thinking. I'm not used to it."

She smiled, the warmth in her eyes making him think she knew exactly what he was thinking. "You can talk to me, you know."

He nodded, almost embarrassed at the way he was allowing her to comfort him. "I know."

"I won't tell her."

"And when there's only one of you?"

She smiled again. "You can still talk to me. I'm still in there."

He shrugged. "It's not that I don't trust you, Carter, because I do. I just don't open up. Period. Not to anyone."

Boldly, she reached across the table and covered his hand with hers, paying no mind when nervously checked the area for other people. "You don't have to talk, Jack."

His own military training told him to dispute any number of things - that she was holding his hand, that she was calling him by his name, that they were in the middle of a public place having a very private conversation. But he couldn't do anything. He couldn't react. He could only sit there and relish the warmth of her hand on his. Gently, he turned his hand over and closed his fingers over hers. He didn't think he'd ever felt so content.

After a moment, his bravado kicked back in; there was only so much openness he could take. "So you think you know me that well?"

She carefully slipped her hand away from his and stood up. "Of course I know you that well. I could read you from the first moment I laid eyes on you. You think it hasn't gotten easier after knowing you for seven years?"

He fell in step beside her as they left the mess. "It's kind of frightening, Carter, if you know what I'm thinking and haven't run away screaming." He was making a joke of how very exposed he felt. He knew she wasn't kidding about knowing him that well, but he knew he could trust her. Because she had been able to read him the day they met and she hadn't run away screaming.

She smiled. "We're more alike than you might think, Jack."

He smiled back. "That's even more frightening."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

They didn't get far beyond the mess before Walter's voice rang through the intercom, paging all of SG-1 to the briefing room. Carter 1, who'd been playing with the computers, beat Jack and Carter 2. She was already seated, watching for their arrival. Jack didn't miss the way Carter 1 analyzed their faces before she started scowling. Now Jack's features were carefully schooled to appear completely expressionless, but he knew Carter 1 was just as able as Carter 2 to read him. Of course, he realized with a wince, it might have been Carter 2's smug smile that gave them away.

Carter 2 sat down next to Jack and looked at Carter 1. "So, what did you break?"

Carter 1 seemed to think Jack was choosing sides again and he could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. "I fixed what was broken. I have no idea what this meeting is about, although I bet you two probably have a clue."

Feeling guilty, Jack looked down. He knew Carter 2 was still gloating, but he didn't want to see it. If he saw it, he'd get angry and he really didn't want to be angry at her. Not since he'd only realized a few minutes earlier that he really was very much in love with her. Them. Whatever. Jack busied himself with watching the others arrive, hoping they were being summoned for good news.

General Hammond took his place at the head of the conference table. Mindful of his presence, Jack and Carter 1 stood up while Carter 2 remained seated. Her gloating look was gone, replaced with boredom. The general noticed her lack of respect, but surprisingly said nothing. He and Teal'c appeared equally uncomfortable. Daniel was the last to arrive, still looking slightly startled by the existence of two Carters. Besides the initial shock each time he saw them, Daniel took it as well as Jack. Jack was quite pleased by that, since he was convinced it would have looked bad for him if he was the only one who could deal with two Carters. He wasn't sure why it would be bad; he only knew that it would be.

General Hammond fixed his eyes on Daniel, carefully focusing his vision so he would never see more than one Carter at once. "I understand you've made some progress, Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel looked up from his papers, apparently only vaguely aware of what was going on. "Huh?" He looked around himself, as if confused by how he'd wound up there. He shook it off and looked back at the general. He was used to getting so wrapped up in what he was reading that he wound up in places he didn't remember going. "Did you say something, general?"

"Daniel!" Jack couldn't resist shouting because it never failed to scare Daniel and scaring Daniel never failed to be amusing.

Daniel jumped in his seat, his face flashing red as he turned to Jack. "Was that absolutely necessary, Jack?"

Carter 1 was fighting back a smile and Carter 2 was giggling. Jack smiled, quite pleased with himself. "Oh, yes, absolutely."

Daniel shifted around the papers in front of him while he suddenly recalled having been the one to suggest the meeting. "I think I figured it out. It's actually a simple process."

Jack beamed happily. "Good, so when do we leave?" He was so pleased at the idea of a quick fix to the situation that he didn't notice the general's lack of enthusiasm.

Daniel sighed. "Of course, it's only simple if it works."

"Dr. Jackson, you only think you've figured it out?"

Daniel looked nervous and decided he was going to lie outright about everything in the future. It would be much easier than splitting hairs with anyone in the military. "I'm as sure as I possibly can be, general. It's not like there's anyone else to ask."

Jack winced as understanding set in. "So we might end up with three or four Carters?" Amusing or not, two Carters were annoying. He didn't want to imagine the hell of having three of her.

"Actually, no, that's about the only thing I can guarantee can't happen." Daniel was pleased to find he had everyone's rapt attention for once, except for Carter 2, who was more interested in staring at Jack. He decided that wasn't a battle he would soon win, and so ignored her. "In order for the process to reverse, it has to be initiated by someone else. The two halves need to be in contact with another part of the device, so it's impossible for them to activate it themselves."

The general looked angry, but everyone was pretty sure he was angry at the way Carter 2 was gazing at Jack. Jack was trying to ignore her, but the idea that she was looking at him with such open adoration made him grin involuntarily. The general was even more displeased that Jack once again seemed to be enjoying the affections of a subordinate. He spoke gruffly. "Dr. Jackson, should your assessment be wrong, what sort of outcome are we looking at?"

Daniel was confused because the answer seemed far too obvious for the general to have bothered asking. "If I'm wrong, sir, then it won't work."

Jack looked exasperated, which Daniel figured was a step up from ginning like an idiot. "Daniel, is there any chance something bad will happen if the reversal doesn't work?"

Daniel pointedly motioned between the two Carters. "Define bad."

Jack took in a deep breath and renewed his vow to not hurt any members of his team. "Will it injure her, Daniel? Will it leave her the way she is? Is not working the worst case scenario?"

Daniel watched as Carter 2 withdrew her hands from the table and moved them to her lap. He saw the fear on her face when she processed Jack's words. Carter 1 looked stoic, as always, but Carter 2 didn't bother hiding her emotions. He didn't relish the idea of hurting his friend. "I don't think it will hurt her." He shrugged and looked back at Jack whose expression of wide-eyed shock and fear seemed inappropriate to the discussion. "Technically, I'm thinking the worst that can happen is that we'll not only have two Sams, but also two of whoever activates the machine."

Carter 1, who for some reason appeared utterly furious all of a sudden, spoke up. "Maybe we can split everyone I know in two and send the useless set far, far away with her."

Carter 2, who for some reason appeared utterly pleased with the universe, suddenly looked nervous. She peeked at Jack, who was pointedly not looking back. "No offense, sir, but I'm not sure I want to meet the mean half of you. The mean half of you and Teal'c would scare the crap out of me."

Teal'c broke his silence. "I have no wish to be split in two parts. An alternate solution to this matter must be investigated."

Jack, who was slowly returning to his senses following having had to wrench Carter 2's hand off his thigh, had no missed a word of the conversation. His processing of it was simply slowed down considerably as the vast majority of his brain was redirected to actively refusing to give into the urge to ravish Carter senseless. Once Carter's hands were back in her own lap, he returning to thinking straight. "So Carter won't be hurt?"

Daniel watched as Carter 2's arms reappeared on the table before she dropped her face dejectedly into her hands. He noticed that Jack was listening once again. Something was going on and he was determined not to witness any of it. "I don't think she'll be hurt, no."

Jack turned to Hammond, praying no one had noticed what had just happened. "Sir, we have to try something. Anything. Please." He wasn't going to survive, or resist, another come on from either Carter.

Hammond had noticed the odd looks on both of the Carters and Jack, but thankfully, he had no idea as to the cause. "Under the circumstances, I don't see much of a choice. Get some sleep. You're shipping out at 0500."


	16. Chapter 16

_AN: I'm so sorry for making you guys wait... My aunt was back in the hospital and I had a fic idea for another fandom that I just had to get out of my head. This should be wrapping up soon. And thank you to the people who nominated me for the Stargate FanFic Awards. I had several nominations, so that was really quite motivational for me!_

Chapter Sixteen

Normally, the group would have dispersed quickly, but it was not normally and thus, none of them moved except for Hammond. The general retreated into his office slightly faster than one would have thought humanly possible. Teal'c refused to turn his back on the Carters, either one of them, because he was concerned about the way they were both playing Jack, who, Teal'c was fairly convinced, hadn't noticed. Daniel was hesitant because he knew he would be blamed in some form or another if anything went wrong. Jack was afraid to stand up for fear his reaction to Carter groping him would be too obvious for the others to miss. Carter 2 was waiting for Jack.

Carter 1, on the other hand, wasn't frozen in fear of anything. She was thinking and evidently, it was using up every ounce of her concentration. She didn't notice that the general had dismissed them. She didn't notice that the others were staring at her. She didn't notice that her face had twisted into her angriest scowl, which likely caught the attention of the others. When she finally looked up, her eyes sought out Daniel. "Would the device even work on the colonel?"

"Why wouldn't it?" Daniel never disliked discussing hypothetical situations with Sam, but he was starting to think Teal'c had the right idea in avoiding them both. He knew there was something wrong with the juxtaposition of her innocent voice and her angry glare, but he didn't know what she was getting at and he didn't know how to get out of it.

She glanced at Jack, uncertain at that moment whether she truly didn't know or if she was just trying to hurt him over whatever had been going on with the other her. "Does he have any feelings? I mean, if it splits out the mean, heartless, military part, wouldn't that just leave the colonel exactly the way he is?" When she saw Jack's eyes darken and narrow, she felt somewhat satisfied and knew the answer to her unspoken question. She had really only intended to piss him off.

For Jack's part, he didn't give in to the anger he felt. He recognized the hurt in Carter 2's eyes as she looked at him. Instead of getting mad and letting everyone see the emotions she was pretending she didn't believe he felt, he smiled at her politely. "I would have said the same thing about you yesterday."

Carter 1 had been expecting, wanting, an argument. Her words had been designed to raise an emotional reaction. Except for those few brief minutes in the access shaft, which he appeared to have forgotten about entirely and she had decided were simply lust, Carter 1 was back to thinking Jack liked the other one better. The way she saw it, Carter 2 was her - only better in Jack's eyes. Suddenly fury rose up in her face, staining her cheeks red. She'd been the one to gain the colonel's respect. She'd been the one to prove her value to Jack. She'd been the one he couldn't leave behind. She should have been the one he loved.

She stood up, the first of the team to move, and proved in one sentence that the machine had failed miserably in splintering military from emotional entirely. She was so mad she didn't care if she embarrassed herself or anyone else. "She's the one who liked Pete!" Without waiting for a response, she turned and ran out of the room.

The four others sat in silence. Jack and Daniel stared after Carter 1. Carter 2 stared at her hands, looking extremely guilty had anyone been looking at her. Teal'c stared at Jack as though he were thoroughly disappointed, but said nothing.

Jack stood up, glancing around the room at his friends. "This is the last time I will ever chase her out of the room." Teal'c ignored him, figuring Jack's statement wasn't meant for him. Carter 2 looked at her hands, giving all the impression she'd been sufficiently chastised.

Daniel glanced at Jack. "I'm not sure there would ever be another instance where Sam would feel compelled to run out of the room, Jack."

Jack knew he was right. He nodded as he headed out after Carter 1. Jack didn't even hesitate - he went straight to the gym. Carter was hurt, which made her angry. She didn't like being hurt; she didn't like being vulnerable. Therefore, she would be taking her anger at herself out on some gym equipment. He knew he could accurately predict Carter's destination even when she was too upset to consciously realize it herself.

He found her exactly where he expected, beating the holy living crap out of the punching bag. It swung violently as she pounded her fists into it. He leaned on the door jamb, letting her work out her anger. He figured it was better than encouraging her to take it out on him. His eyes followed her movements closely, noticing when her body weakened. She was still throwing punches, but they weren't having much of an effect.

Closing the door behind him, he approached her. "What did that poor bag ever do to you?"

She didn't answer, instead hitting the bag with a pathetic, girlie punch, which, unlike her normal style, probably hurt her more than it helped. She sniffled and bent forward, resting her forehead against the leather.

As many times as he'd seen it happen recently, he was never prepared to face Carter's tears. With his hands on her shoulders, he gently steered her to look at him. "Carter?"

When her eyes met his, he saw at she was even more afraid to cry in front of him than he was of seeing her cry. She opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to keep the sobs from escaping while she spoke, but she wasn't able to and therefore didn't bother saying anything. Her chin trembled and her breath came in short gasps as she tried to regain control of herself. Jack couldn't resist the overwhelming urge to comfort her and pulled her into his arms. He could feel her tears hot against his neck as he soothed her, rubbing her back and promising her that it was all right.

Exactly too soon for his liking, she stiffened up and pulled away. "I'm sorry, sir. This is inappropriate."

He couldn't help it - he laughed. "More or less so than making out in the access shaft?"

Her face turned red, but she said nothing.

"So you feel like telling me what this is all about?"

She shook her head to indicate that she did not, in fact, feel like telling him about it.

"How about you tell me anyway so I have an explanation when I get asked about my inappropriate behavior?"

Carter 1 moved to sit down heavily on one of the benches along the wall. "You like her more than me. It's obvious."

"Carter." His voice was a growl, intending to remind her that he didn't feel like dealing with twin Carter antics.

She looked at him when he sat next to her, the heartbreak in her eyes having the same effect on him. "You might need me more, but you'd rater be with her." She looked away, her fidgeting hands revealing her nerves. "But this is the real me. I'm the woman you know."

"You're half the woman I know, Carter." Not having any better ideas, he reached over and stilled her hands by folding them in his. "I don't like her better, Carter. You may think she's different from you, but she's not to me. You're the same person. You're both Carter."

She flinched openly at her name, hurt by the fact that he was distancing himself even in the midst of such a personal discussion.

"My Carter."

She only peeked at him for a second before her eyes slid away nervously. "Yours, sir?"

He leaned over and kissed her cheek, confident the crisis was over. "Always."

She was silent for a long time after his vow. When she spoke, he knew her words were from the heart, not perfunctory. "I'm really sorry about all this. I don't know why I can't hold myself together."

He grinned and nudged her shoulder with his won. "Maybe because there's two of you to hold together?"

"I wish none of this had ever happened. Once I'm back to normal, this is going on the list." She was referring to the ever-growing list of thoroughly embarrassing incidents that they all had an unspoken agreement to never discuss.

"What list?" He winked at her. "If nothing else, now you know I won't think any less of you if you let yourself be human from time to time."

She shook her head, ignoring the very thing from him that she'd always wanted to hear. "We fix this, right?"

He nodded. "And everything will go back to normal."

"I'm not sure that's an improvement."

"Good night, Carter." He made it to the door before he dared to look back at her. "We can talk about making improvements tomorrow."


	17. Chapter 17

_AN: Ok, guys, looks like there's just one more part after this. That's for being patient. I was at the beach last weekend and before that I had to finish that blasted paper from last semester... _

Chapter Seventeen

For once, Jack was the first person to arrive, dressed and ready, for the mission. He was chomping at the bit, pacing back and forth at the base of the ramp. He was nervous. There were so many things that could possibly go wrong that he didn't want to think about. Even if, contrary to his usual luck, they were able to use the computer, dial the coordinates, establish the wormhole, get back to the planet, and find the device still in working order, they still had to contend with Daniel's less than enthusiastic assessment of getting the damn thing to fix Carter. To keep his mind off the multitude of things that could blow up in their faces, Jack kept his mind blank. He watched the ground as he resolutely put one foot in front of the other. When he reached the end of the ramp, he spun around on his heel and started over.

Teal'c was the next to arrive, watching Jack's behavior curiously for several minutes. "You are apprehensive, O'Neill."

Jack froze, shocked still for a moment. He hadn't even noticed Teal'c's arrival. "Nah, I'm fine." He paced for another moment and then looked at Teal'c without hiding his fear. "What if it hurts her?"

"You would be well advised to worry that the device will not return Major Carter to her original state."

"Why?"

Teal'c met his friend's eyes to assure Jack that his words were not in jest, not that Jack ever found that to be the case. "If the device fails to repair Major Carter, I will be forced to destroy one of her entities."

Jack's eyes widened. "You're joking, right?"

"I am not. I dislike the presence of two where there should be but one."

Jack turned back to his pacing, adding the fear of Teal'c's threat to his list of worries that he was refusing to think about. Carter 1 appeared next, standing quietly against the wall and watching as Jack continued to wear a hole in the floor.

When Daniel came in, he was completely oblivious to Jack's state of mind. His face was buried in the sheaf of papers he carried with him. He glanced up at Jack, looked back at the papers, and then got confused when he looked up to find Jack had walked away. "Uh, Jack-"

Jack's pacing halted mid-step. "Daniel?" To anyone who knew him well, his voice held a warning tone. Although he continued to pace, he'd already decided he was going to steadfastly ignore any complications. The plan was going to work. It simply had to work because he wouldn't last with two Carters and he certainly couldn't deal with only having half of Carter when Teal'c made good on his threat and got rid of half of her. No, he just couldn't, wouldn't, have that. His denial brought a lovely sense of calm. He only kept pacing in an attempt to keep the Carters from trying to engage him. Daniel's words, however, threatened to bring the whole house of cards tumbling down.

Daniel winced and edged ever so slightly toward Teal'c. He was reasonably sure Teal'c would protect him if Jack tried to hurt him. "I've been reading more about why the natives stopped using the device."

Jack squeezed his eyes closed, took a deep breath and counted to twenty, because ten just wasn't going to cut it. "Daniel, spit it out." The sooner Daniel said it, the sooner Jack could pretend he hadn't.

Daniel sighed and realized he'd forgotten his decision from the day before - he wasn't supposed to tell the truth anymore. He sincerely wished he'd remembered a few minutes earlier. "Well, it appears as though the device never worked right. They used it for a wile, but it created so many problems that they eventually stopped trying."

Jack paused for only a second before he decided he rather liked the dizzying sensation of continually walking back and forth. He kind of hoped he could trip and knock himself out, thus sparing him of having to actually deal with the situation. "What sort of problems?"

Daniel looked at Carter 1, but seemed completely unaware of which half she was. "Apparently the device didn't exactly separate out all the emotions from the emotionless half."

Jack rolled his eyes at himself. "No kidding. I could have told you that, Danny."

"So apparently the emotions that were left over in the supposedly emotionless half-" Daniel glanced nervously at Carter before he bit the bullet and ducked completely behind Teal'c. "Appeared to be the strongest, truest emotions."

Jack stopped dead, unsure why that notion freaked him out, but certain that it was supposed to. "So?"

"The halves that were sent to war got really upset about having to leave and those that survived came back to find their spouses having not really missed them and they became a smidge homicidal toward their other halves." When nothing was immediately launched at him, Daniel looked around to make sure the others were still there.

"Well, this Carter already suggested killing the other half, so that's not really surprising."

Daniel's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Oh, yeah."

Daniel glanced at the Carter leaning against the wall. "You can tell them apart?"

The Carter leaning shot a terrifying glare in Daniel's direction, but her expression faded into a smile at Jack's response. "Oh, yeah."

Teal'c, doing his best to pretend they weren't waiting for the arrival of a second Carter, turned to Daniel. "Please define the measure of a smidge."

Daniel shrugged. "It's, you know, a smidge."

Jack grinned. "Kind of like a nudge."

Teal'c looked confused, but nodded.

Daniel glanced at Carter 1, who was still smiling at Jack. "So at least I guess you know she really loves you."

Jack turned back to Daniel and answered before his military training had a chance to stop him. "Daniel, please tell me you're not really that far behind the rest of us." For one, long, silent beat Jack's heart stopped beating. He wanted to look at Carter, to see how she was reacting, but he was pretty sure she was trying to bury her face in her hands. Daniel actually looked horrified that his comment had led to such an admission, which would have been amusing had they not been in full view and hearing range of the staff in the control room. Even Teal'c looked uncomfortable. Jack cleared his throat and decided to pretend it hadn't happened. "So, you were saying the device didn't work right."

Daniel took the hint. "Right, it didn't work the way it was intended to, so they stopped using it."

Jack's eyes moved to Teal'c. Teal'c nodded. It was oddly reminiscent of the time loop machine that Jack and Teal'c recalled much more vividly than the others. Jack turned back to Daniel and smiled, thoroughly freaking Daniel out. "The villagers didn't build it, did they? It was the Ancients."

"The device itself doesn't resemble any of the Ancient technology we've seen, but the panels are written in their language. I think it's safe to assume that the Ancients had a hand in building the device." He glanced at his papers. "How did you know?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Did anything they built ever work?"

Daniel winced again. "They all apparently worked, just not like they were supposed to."

The thought his Jack then, that whatever their shortcomings, Ancient devices that didn't quite work usually gave him a chance to kiss Carter. Suddenly, the Ancients and their lack of effective engineering skills made Jack smile. He caught Carter 1's eyes. She looked nervous. He kept grinning.

"What are you smiling at?"

He still kept grinning. "Nothing."


	18. Chapter 18

_AN: Here it is! The end! Thanks for sticking with me!_

Chapter Eighteen

Carter 2 arrived while Jack was staring at Carter 1. She didn't look happy when Jack didn't notice her, but she didn't say anything. Jack just kept watching Carter 1, displaying the goofiest grin she'd ever seen. He only noticed Carter 2 when Carter 1's face fell. He turned to see what she was looking at, so pleased that very little could bring him down.

Unfortunately, his eyes found the one thing that could, and did, bring him down. Carter 2 was glaring. And Carter 2 was not dressed for a mission. Carter 2 was wearing jeans and a red sweater. Under normal circumstances, Jack would have thoroughly enjoyed the way her sweater fit her, but he was trying to get the whole two Carters thing resolved and Carter 2's lack of proper attire only hindered his efforts to do so.

"Carter. Change. Now."

Carter 2 sighed and, although she was looking away, Jack was fairly certain she was rolling her eyes at Daniel. "But those clothes aren't comfortable and the boots hurt my feet."

Jack motioned at Carter 1, who would have been his favorite person of all time that morning for not saying anything to upset him as Daniel and Teal'c had and for wearing her uniform unlike Carter 2, except she was looking far too innocent to actually be innocent. "She's wearing them."

Carter 2 glared at Carter 1. "She's a suck-up."

For once, since the whole thing had started, Jack really, really wanted to laugh. Because, truth be told, when he'd first met her and she claimed to have memorized his mission report from Abydos, he'd thought the very same thing. But he fought back his grin despite Daniel and Teal'c's amused faces. "Carter, sucking up is what the military is all about."

Carter 2 didn't back down. "I can't get in my locker."

Jack took a deep breath and wondered if it was worth fighting her about. It probably wasn't, but he wasn't going to back down. Not with witnesses. Not when they were so close to getting things back under control. He looked at the all-too-innocent Carter 1. "Do you know why she can't get in her locker?"

Carter 1 didn't glance away from his hard stare. "Because I got a new lock for my locker."

"Why?"

"Because it's my locker and I don't want her in it."

"Carter!" He was angry. Very angry. Much angrier, in fact, than he could ever remember being because he really expected better from Carter. Especially after the understanding, or what he'd understood to be understanding, that had passed between them just the evening before.

Reluctantly, Carter 1 fished a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Carter 2. A few minutes later, Carter 2 was back, dressed appropriately. With their typical send off from the general, who had witnessed every single word of the morning's festivities safely ensconced in the control room, the team finally headed up the ramp only twenty-five minutes late.

The device had seemed a lot closer to the gate in retrospect. Jack vaguely recalled Carter's crazed near-run when they were leaving, but he'd completely blocked out the length of time and the amount of energy it had taken to get there the first time. Jack took point for the time being because Teal'c refused to allow the Carters to stand behind him, Daniel had no sense of directions, and, for the moment at least, Jack didn't trust either of the Carters to lead them.

Just like he remembered, the planet's time seemed to be the same as Earth's and he kept his eyes focused on the sunrise as he walked. He denied the generalized griping he heard behind him. He knew he was walking a little faster than normal, but it was killing two birds with one stone. First of all, it would get them to the device and get Carter fixed sooner. Secondly, it served to distance him somewhat from the team, of which he'd had about as much as he could take.

He relented a few hours later, expecting that someone would want to eat lunch. No one did, but they did all silently enjoy the break from walking. The Carters wouldn't even look at each other. They both were watching Jack with pathetic, puppy-dog expressions. He suspected they were finally sorry for acting out, once it became clear that Jack was pissed at them. He refused to acknowledge that they also looked frightened because then he would have to acknowledge that they were afraid of what the machine would do to them and then he would have to acknowledge that he was afraid of the very same thing and that was acknowledging far more than he wanted to acknowledge. So he refused to look at the Carters, which also solved the problem of which one of them to comfort first.

After a short respite, Jack started them off again. When his ears picked up the faint humming in the distance, his pace slowed a bit. He peeked behind him to catch the Carters shooting worried glances at each other. By the time they crested the final hill, the various and sundry griping had stopped altogether. The five members of SG-1 stood silently, staring at the humming slab of rock whose unassuming concreteness belied exactly how much trouble it had caused.

Jack looked around and frowned. "You know, if a damn copier were to cause the demise of our entire civilization, don't you think someone would hang an 'out of order' sign on it? Or at least unplug it or something."

The Carters tried to smile at him.

Daniel held up the papers he'd been studying throughout the hike. "They did, Jack. That's why it's important to translate these things before we play with them."

Both of the Carters glared at Daniel and Jack was very happy they weren't looking at him like that. He waved at Daniel's papers dismissively. "It would have been much more effective for them to hang a little sign that said 'copy machine of doom,' don't you think?"

The Carters giggled. Daniel rolled his eyes. Teal'c waited for Jack to start walking again.

It became clear quickly that Jack was through with being the leader - whether out of fear of the consequences or the desire to escape blame for those consequences, it didn't matter. Daniel cleared his throat.

"It's certainly not going to work if we just stare at it."

Jack shrugged. "Apparently not."

Carefully, the group approached the machine. Jack was trying to figure out if the device's humming had changed, and if it had, if the humming had become more ominous. The Carters were moving slowly, their collective dread weighing heavily on their teammates.

Teal'c took the initiative, as uncomfortable with two Carters as he would be with none. "Daniel Jackson, what must be done?"

Daniel walked to the left side of the machine. "Sam - Sams - you each need to place one of your hands here." He was pointing to two small panels. They didn't look like anything special, but neither Carter moved for fear they were special and would only make things worse.

Jack couldn't blame them; he wouldn't want to be the guinea pig either. "Carters, please work with us here."

Each of the Carters placed a hand on the machine. Then they looked at the guys. Finally, their eyes fell on Jack. Jack knew there were a million things she, they, wanted to say. He felt the same way - if something about to happen to her, if heaven forbid she was hurt or worse - there were things he wanted her to know. But as he looked at them, he knew there was nothing to say. There was nothing he could tell them that they didn't already know. Both of them smiled a sad, scared smile at him - they understood.

Teal'c broke the silence once again. "What is the next step, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel winced, awkwardly watching the charged emotions between Jack and the Carters. "Now someone needs to activate the device."

Jack broke the stare, turning first to look at Teal'c and then at Daniel. "Who, pray tell?"

Daniel shrugged. "The controls are over here." With a wave of his hand, he indicated another small square panel. As far as Jack could tell, all the places Daniel was pointing out just looked like rock, but considering the humming rock had made a second Carter, Jack wasn't about to say it. He didn't want a lecture.

"So, do we want to flip a coin?" No matter what, Jack wasn't going to do it. It was between Teal'c and Daniel. Jack could not be the one to press the button in case the unspeakable happened. He needed to blame someone else. He could already blame Daniel for messing up the translation if push came to shove, so he quietly hoped that Teal'c would volunteer. That way, in the absence of Carter, he could blame everyone except himself. Of course, he knew if something happened to her, he would blame himself first, but still, he wanted to have back ups.

The Carters spoke in unison, sending a chill down Jack's spine. "Daniel."

Jack was suddenly suspicious. Their choice shouldn't have upset him, not after the way they'd been carrying on for his attention, not after they'd pointed out how scary he and Teal'c could be, but Jack felt slighted all the same. He'd almost expected them to insist that he do it, to swear they didn't trust anyone else as much. "Why Daniel?"

Carter 2 smiled. "There's no mean side of Daniel. So even if it splits him, we'll be left with a relatively normal guy-"

Carter 1 piped up. "And a set of Encyclopedia Britannicas."

Daniel looked offended. Teal'c fought back a smile. Jack double over laughing. It wasn't often that Carter cracked a joke - she usually left it up to Jack - but Jack believed it was thoroughly worth the wait when she did.

Daniel stepped up to the device, eyeing Jack carefully. He already knew, if the machine didn't work, that it would be his fault since, for whatever reason, linguists were always to blame when things went wrong. He didn't want to be responsible for actually flipping the switch any more than Jack did because Sam was his friend and he didn't want to hurt her either. Jack nodded at him. Daniel took a deep breath, praying he wasn't about to find out what Sam had been going through. Then he pressed his hand onto the device and listed to the humming intensify.

After giving Daniel the go-ahead, Jack turned back to the Carters. His eyes held theirs. They had his full attention for all of a millisecond.

Then a sudden, blinding brightness filled the area - starting around the Carters, then extending around all of them. When e couldn't bear it any longer, Jack closed his eyes. That couldn't have been what happened originally; there was no way he'd slept through anything that loud or that bright. "So help me, Daniel, if we're not all perfectly normal when this thing's done-"

He didn't even get a chance to finish the threat. The white light was gone. The humming was soft once again. Jack's eyes opened, almost without permission. He wasn't sure he wanted to see. He was expecting there to be two of all of them or only one - with four personalities crammed inside.

But when his eyes finally focused, he saw only Carter. Just one Carter. Just his Carter.

And for once, he paid no attention to rank or responsibility or anything else. He closed the distance between them in one step and pulled the one and only Samantha Carter into his arms.

Daniel and Teal'c politely turned away while Jack kissed her long and deep and slow.

Just to make sure none of Carter's personality felt slighted.


End file.
